Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 303 Harassment Continues, Traitor Faces Dilemma (Part 2)

These days, marching and fighting in freezing weather is extremely difficult.

All this is due to the devastating Little Ice Age, which caused extremely low temperatures in the north, with daytime temperatures dropping to minus ten degrees Celsius and nighttime temperatures plummeting to minus twenty or thirty degrees Celsius.

The road was covered in ice, so you had to be careful when walking, or you might fall flat on your back.

Who would lead a large army to launch an attack in this kind of weather?
Gao Yingxiang thought it was unlikely because his men's equipment was inadequate, or rather, their methods of keeping warm were inadequate.

Although he plundered a lot of money, he did not distribute it to his soldiers, nor did he use it to buy them warm clothing.

The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou were all unscrupulous businessmen, so it was even less likely that they would be provided with any warm clothing.

Therefore, most of his men didn't even have enough cotton-padded clothes, so it was naturally unlikely that they could fight in the freezing cold.

The Hanzhong army is a different story.

Although Zhu Jue didn't equip Pan Yunteng's troops with muskets and cannons, he was never stingy with other weapons and equipment, including provisions; he supplied the Hanzhong army with countless supplies.

Pan Yunteng was even less stingy. He used all the money he plundered to equip his men. In addition, he had access to purchase goods produced in the inner court. Therefore, their weapons and equipment were exceptionally good. Except for firearms, cannons, boilers, and steam engines, they had almost everything else they could need.

As for cold-weather gear, they were also provided with quite a bit.

For example, the tents are made of thickened waterproof fabric, so they are more than capable of protecting against snow and wind.

For example, clothing. The Hanzhong army was wearing thick cotton-padded clothes. They even made sheepskin coats from the sheepskins they had looted and bought. Although the sheepskin coats were not enough to equip 900,000 soldiers, they were enough to equip 100,000 soldiers.

They also bought quite a few coal stoves. These stoves can actually be used with firewood instead of coal. As long as the stove is placed inside the tent, the chimney is connected to the outside, and firewood is continuously added, the tent is actually quite warm.

Therefore, it was no problem for him to mobilize 100,000 troops to attack the pass in this freezing weather.

Once they capture the pass between Wangwu Mountain and Taihang Mountain, it will be equivalent to opening a breach in the south of Shanxi, allowing the elite guards to communicate with them in a timely manner.

News of Gao Yingxiang's mobilization of heavy troops to guard Yangcheng and Zezhou also quickly spread.

They had anticipated this long ago.

Pan Yunteng didn't even consider launching a surprise attack on Yangcheng and Zezhou first; his elite troops were waiting elsewhere.

Once he made contact with the elite guards, he immediately devised a strategy: to launch a surprise attack on Yuanqu, the city furthest from Zezhou.

The elite guards quickly wiped out the checkpoints Gao Yingxiang had set up south of Yuanqu. His elite troops also sneaked into Yuanqu City with the guards, wiped out all the artisans who made cannons, and burned down the cannon-making workshops.

Upon receiving the news, Gao Yingxiang immediately mobilized a large army and rushed to Yuanqu.

This is because Yuanqu is located south of Pingyang Prefecture, and it is only about 400 li away from Puzhou, the stronghold of the three powerful clans in Puzhou. If Zhang Yun, the King of Hanzhong, were to lead his army to attack Puzhou, the three powerful clans of Puzhou would surely kill him.

This guy just transferred the army to Yuanqu, and suddenly the pass south of Lingchuan City, the farthest from Pingyang Prefecture, was wiped out in one fell swoop!
With the help of elite secret guards, the Hanzhong army stormed into Lingchuan City, wiped out all the artisans who were casting cannons, and burned down the cannon-casting workshops.

Upon hearing the news, Gao Yingxiang was in a real bind. Lingchuan was more than a thousand miles away from Yuanqu, and almost all the troops he could mobilize in southern Shanxi had been sent to guard Zezhou, Yangcheng, and Yuanqu.

With the weather so cold and snowy, he couldn't mobilize troops from further away to reinforce Lingchuan. He could only mobilize troops from the nearest city, Zezhou.

As a result, just as the troops from Zezhou City were being mobilized, the elite troops of Hanzhong secretly sneaked into Zezhou City again, wiped out all the artisans who were casting cannons, and burned down the cannon-casting workshops.

This not only gave Gao Yingxiang a headache, but also the three major powerful families and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou a headache.

They never expected the Hanzhong army to pull this stunt.

It turns out that their attack on the pass between Wangwu Mountain and Taihang Mountain was just a ruse. They wanted to draw their troops away so they could launch surprise attacks everywhere! The key thing is that these guys not only burned down their cannon-casting workshop, but also killed all the craftsmen who helped them cast the cannons.

They don't have many artisans who can forge cannons, and if they let them continue like this, they'll be wiped out.

How to do it?

The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou were all in a dilemma.

Should we close the gates of the other cities and let the rebels and defectors guard the city walls day and night?

That's impossible! In this freezing weather, people in the city need a lot of firewood to cook and keep warm. If they close the city gates, the firewood in the city will burn out in just a few days. What will they do then? Are they supposed to just endure it?

That's a joke. In this cold weather, without a fire to warm you up, you could freeze to death. The house would be like an icebox. Who could stand it?

While the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou were struggling with their internal problems, Zhu Jue summoned Yang Sichang and prepared to send him to develop Southeast Asia with all his might.

The reason Yang Sichang stayed in the capital and didn't go to Southeast Asia was because the fleet in Southeast Asia had not yet set sail.

This time, the South Seas fleet not only brought over the Brunei delegation, but also millions of catties of timber and millions of catties of fertilizer. It would take time to unload these things from the ship, not to mention that the capital had also built a large number of boilers and equipment for making ice and fertilizer from saltpeter, which would also take time to install.

In addition, the freezing weather made transporting supplies inconvenient, so the South Sea Fleet anchored at the docks outside the mouth of the Haihe River for several days before making preparations.

Early that morning, around 7 a.m., Zhu Jue had just arrived at the main hall of Yuxi Palace and hadn't even begun reviewing the memorials when he ordered someone to summon Yang Sichang.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he pointed to the map and explained in detail: "Wenruo, Youzhen's fleet is almost ready. You can set off in the next couple of days. I entrust the South Seas to you."

Remember, the most important thing right now is logging. We have about 100,000 able-bodied men in Luzon, but we haven't even started logging in Brunei yet.

After you get there, go to Brunei and recruit local able-bodied men to cut timber. You can decide on the wages yourself. In short, you should recruit as many able-bodied men as possible and get them to cut timber as soon as possible.

Next is the planting of grain in Luzon. Since you have studied the "Complete Treatise on Agriculture," I won't go into too much detail. In short, we should cultivate as much land as possible in Luzon and plant at least two crops a year.

Another issue is Java. This year, we will mobilize a large army to drive out the Dutch colonial invaders in Java. As for the timing, that depends on the crop planting situation there.

"We can only mobilize our army after your first harvest of grain this year. Otherwise, if we don't have enough grain, we'll have to transport it from the Ming Dynasty itself, which will be too troublesome."

Upon hearing this, Yang Sichang carefully examined the map and then slowly nodded, saying, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then simply asked, "Do you have any other questions?"

Yang Sichang examined the map carefully, then pointed to the Southeast Peninsula and said, "Your Majesty, this area can be considered part of the South Seas, right? There are quite a few timber and mineral deposits there. Should we develop them?"

This is not urgent.

Zhu Jue slowly shook his head and said, "The situation in this area is still quite complicated. Annam, Siam, and Donghu are all quite large, and they have a lot of people and forces. We don't know their attitude yet."

Therefore, you should leave this matter alone for now. We'll wait until they send an envoy to pay tribute, then we'll see what their attitude is, and then we'll consider how to develop this area.

"You should develop the Luzon, Brunei, and Java regions first. With the timber from those three areas, we should have enough for shipbuilding. There's no need to rush the rest."

Oh, let's leave the land-based areas aside for now, shall we?

That's easy.

Upon hearing this, Yang Sichang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

(End of this chapter)