Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 310 Rebels Launch a Surprise Attack on Hanzhong, a Crisis Ensues (Part 1)
The Jurchen cavalry arrived at Yuci, and their vast camp was so large that even a blind man could see it.

Upon receiving the news, the Hanzhong army, just like last year, immediately retreated, covering hundreds or even thousands of miles, directly withdrawing from Liaozhou, Qinzhou, and Lu'an Prefecture, and frantically retreating south.

However, the Hanzhong army did not completely withdraw from Zezhou this time; they seem to still be blocking various intersections along the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains.

If it had been last year, Huang Taiji would probably have marched his army south without hesitation, and then retaliated against the Hanzhong army in the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains.

At this moment, Huang Taiji no longer had this idea.

As soon as the Hanzhong army retreated, he immediately led his cavalry back to Liaodong!

It was already mid-April, and the capital region was in the midst of spring warmth and blooming flowers. Farmers and garrison soldiers outside the city had begun spring plowing, and the first batch of ships of the year at the capital shipyard and the Haihe shipyard had been completed one after another. The entire capital region was thriving.

Early that morning, around dawn, Zhu Jue didn't go to the Yuxi Palace to review memorials. Instead, he took Zheng Zhilong, Wang Chengen, Fang Zhenghua, and others on a fast boat and headed straight for the Haihe Shipyard.

This is because the fleet from Southeast Asia returned yesterday, while the fleet from the Americas will arrive this morning.

Around 7 a.m., as the sun rose, the Haihe River shimmered and sparkled with golden light. Countless ships were converging on the shipyard's dock channels, which were completely packed with more than a hundred dock channels.

These are just the ships unloading timber, probably only two or three thousand in total. The ports and docks at the mouth of the Haihe River have even more ships. The huge port seems to be completely filled with ships, and the sides of the docks are packed with them.

The fleet from America has returned!

Zhu Jue looked around at the densely packed ships that stretched as far as the eye could see, and he couldn't help but feel excited.

The Ming Dynasty had nearly ten thousand ocean-going warships, and dominating the seas was just around the corner.

Their small merchant ship, the Zhiyuan, moved between these giant vessels as if a child were walking among adults.

At this time, Lu Xiang-sheng, Zheng Zhi-hu, Zheng Zhi-bao, Zheng Hong-kui, Zhu You-zhen, and others were already waiting on the main dock of the Zhenyuan warship. Even Xu Guang-qi, who had been away in the Americas for a long time, had returned.

This time, the two fleets finally came together, and the first batch of ships of this year have been built at the Beijing Shipyard and Haihe Shipyard. They came by imperial decree to redistribute the ships and personnel of the two fleets.

As soon as they saw Zhu Jue striding towards them, they quickly stepped forward and bowed in greeting.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked with concern, "Zixian, you've had a tough time. You've been in that sweltering heat of America for so long, are you feeling alright?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Guangqi was deeply moved and said, "Your Majesty is very kind. I am perfectly healthy and can stay for a few more years without any problem."

You're already seventy, you can't afford to cause any more trouble outside. The development of agriculture in the Ming Dynasty is still counting on you to drive it forward.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "You don't need to go to the Americas. So, did you bring back any crop seeds from there?"

This means it's in his rice bowl.

Xu Guangqi said with great interest, "Your Majesty, there are quite a lot of crops over there, many of which are not available in the Ming Dynasty. I have brought back a lot of seedlings, including corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, papayas, cocoa, and so on. There are dozens of varieties. I plan to try planting them all in the Ming Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, no one could understand it at all.

They had no idea what Xu Guangqi was talking about.

Zhu Jue, however, was quite clear about these things; he had seen them all in later generations.

He nodded slightly and said, "Yes, you can try planting these, especially corn. It seems to have a high yield. However, don't overwork yourself."

"Just tell me how much land you need for trial planting, and I will order someone to build greenhouses for you in the capital region. You can adjust the temperature inside as you wish. As for other places, you can send your disciples to try planting there. It's best not to travel around too much."

Oh dear, they're even building me a greenhouse.

Xu Guangqi nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand. Thank you for your grace."

Entrusting this agricultural development to you will definitely be no problem.

The next issue is the allocation of ships.

They now have a large number of ships. There are more than four thousand small and medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships, and more than a thousand small, medium, and large Weiyuan warships. Only the Zhenyuan warships are less than a hundred.

It can be said that their transportation capacity is barely enough at this stage, but their military strength is still slightly insufficient.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then asked, "Zixian, what is the current production situation of copper concentrate, saltpeter, rubber, and timber in the Americas?"

How do you say this?

Xu Guangqi explained in detail: "Your Majesty, copper concentrate and saltpeter are easier to deal with. We have already opened the mines and connected the tracks. It is no problem for a strong young man to mine two thousand catties of ore a day."

We had about 50,000 Jurchen prisoners. We divided 30,000 of them to mine copper and 20,000 to mine saltpeter. Now, the daily output of copper concentrate and saltpeter there can reach about 40 million catties.

It's hard to say about rubber and timber, because the jungle there is dark and gloomy, and outsiders would get lost if they went in. Therefore, we can only hire able-bodied men from there to mine them, and the mining efficiency for both of these things is very low.

Each able-bodied young man can only extract about 50-60 catties of sap from raw rubber per day, which, after being squeezed dry, yields only about 20-30 catties. Similarly, each able-bodied young man can only harvest about 20-30 timber logs per day. The total population there seems to be only one or two million. Adding to that the many young men the Spanish forcibly conscripted to mine gold and silver, we can only recruit about 100,000 young men. On average, that means they can only produce a little over a million catties of rubber and a little over a million logs of timber per day.”

Isn't that enough of an argument?
That's already enough.

That's enough for the Ming Dynasty at least for now.

Even the Ming Dynasty didn't have enough ships to bring back so many raw materials.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Youzhen, what is the timber production like in Southeast Asia?"

It's pretty much the same in Southeast Asia.

Zhu Youzhen cautiously said, "Your Majesty, in the South Seas, only the 100,000 young men we recruited are willing to cut timber. The young men in our vassal states all want to mine, because mining is more profitable and easier."

Our able-bodied men can only harvest 20 to 30 timber loads a day, and since there are no tracks laid over there, we have to haul the timber out by hand. Even with 100,000 able-bodied men divided equally—half harvesting, half transporting—we can only haul out a little over a million timber loads a day.

This means that Southeast Asia and the Americas can produce more than two million logs of timber a day!
Even if the Haihe Shipyard were to build ships of more than 3,000 timber each, it could only accommodate a little over 1,000 ships. Even if each ship were built in batches every three months, it would still require five to six million timber.

The Beijing Shipyard uses even less timber; a single batch requires at most one or two million pieces of wood.

In other words, the amount of timber they need for one batch is equivalent to the amount harvested in Southeast Asia and the Americas in just a few days.

This logging seems to have gone a bit too far. They used to be short of timber, but now they have so much timber that they can't bring it back!
Their largest ships now only carry a little over 3,000 tons of timber. Even if they are used to haul timber, each ship can only carry about 3,000 tons of timber. A thousand ships would only carry 3 million tons of timber, and two thousand ships would only carry 6 million tons of timber.

A round trip to Southeast Asia takes about half a month, while a round trip to the Americas takes about four months.

What can we do if we can't bring back so much timber?

Oh, right, make them into railway sleepers!
Next, the Ming Dynasty will definitely lay railway tracks on a large scale, and who knows how many sleepers they will need.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said, "Liangfu, make more saws and have the fleet take them to the South Seas and America, and process all the excess timber there into sleepers."

This makes hauling much easier. Once our super-large Zhiyuan merchant ship, with a capacity of 5,000 liters, is built, it will be able to haul an incredible number of sleepers in a single trip.”

Uh, is it just processed into sleepers?

Upon hearing this, Wang Zheng cautiously said, "Your Majesty, we can actually process the timber over there into ship planks and haul them over. That way, we can haul more, and they can be used immediately upon arrival."

Okay.

Zhu Jue nodded without hesitation and said, "You can handle this. In short, we can't let the timber pile up in Southeast Asia and America. We have to find a way to process it and bring it all back."

Wang Zheng nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Next came the allocation of ships.

It seems that they only haul timber in the South Seas; as for gold and silver, the ships can't even be filled to capacity.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said, "How about this, Jian Dou, you take charge of the allocation of ships and personnel."

All of our existing more than 1,000 large Zhiyuan merchant ships and medium-sized Weiyuan warships have been allocated to the South Sea Fleet, and the remaining medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships and small Weiyuan warships, except for those needed by the Ming Dynasty's homeland, have been allocated to the Americas Fleet.

As for the small Zhenyuan warships and small Zhiyuan merchant ships, you can equip them with a few as needed.

Today, you will discuss with Youzhen, Hongkui, Zhihu, and Zhibao to finalize the number of ships and personnel, and then submit a clear report for my review.

Wow, this allocation is practically a complete overhaul.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng thought about it carefully before slowly nodding and saying, "Your Majesty, I understand."

As they were discussing, Fang Zhenghua suddenly rushed over with a memorial in his hand, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, General Pan has sent an urgent report."

What is Huang Taiji up to now?

Zhu Jue took the memorial and was taken aback.

Huang Taiji actually led his cavalry back to Liaodong.

Why is this guy in such a hurry to go back?
Pan Yunteng even asked if they should mess with Huang Taiji again this year.

There's no need for that anymore, since it's pointless to mess with Huang Taiji this year. He's thinking about annihilating the Jurchen cavalry in one fell swoop next year.

If Pan Yunteng exhausts Huang Taiji this year, Huang Taiji won't bother coming to support him next year, and then their trap formation will be difficult to set up.

After all, if Huang Taiji were a fool, he would know to run away as soon as possible when the Jurchen cavalry set up an ambush right under his nose.

(End of this chapter)