Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 331 A Cover-Up to a Plot to Conceal One's True Intentions Beyond the Great Wall (Part 1)

After signing the agreement, Valdes happily went off to Southeast Asia.

Zhu Jue then immediately ordered people to boast about Zheng Zhilong's achievements in Southeast Asia.

Zheng Zhilong was truly a man of great merit. He was the one who negotiated the annexation of Luzon and also led his army to conquer Java.

It can be said that this guy played an indispensable role in the Ming Dynasty's control over the entire South Seas.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty's control over Southeast Asia was exceptionally strong, because Southeast Asia originally consisted of only a few small countries such as Luzon, Brunei, Sulu, Java, Malacca, and Srivijaya.

Srivijaya seems to have been destroyed long ago in the internal strife among the Southeast Asian countries, Luzon and Sulu were also destroyed by Spanish colonists, and Java and Mankatsu seem to have been almost completely wiped out by the Dutch.

It seems that Brunei is the only remaining kingdom in Southeast Asia. The King of Brunei has long since come to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty and promised to follow the Ming's lead. This means that he can do whatever the Ming Dynasty wants.

The Ming Dynasty now controls the entire South Seas and can do whatever it wants with it.

Of course, "Southern Ocean" refers only to the islands of the Southern Ocean and does not include the Southeastern Peninsula.

However, Zhu Jue ordered someone to spread the word, and the islands of Nanyang were then considered part of Nanyang.

The reason he ordered people to promote it like this seems to be to encourage ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty to actively participate and go to develop Southeast Asia.

This was because he immediately issued an imperial edict that any ordinary citizen of the Ming Dynasty who wished to move their entire family to Southeast Asia would be given fifty mu of land per household, and would be guaranteed to be provided with cooling fans to beat the heat, farming tools, and even housing, seedlings for crops, etc. He would also guarantee that there would be work to do during the off-season, and that the wages would be four or five taels a month.

In other words, as long as you are willing to move your whole family to Southeast Asia, you can definitely live a life of plenty.

In those days, the allure of abundance was still very strong for ordinary people. As soon as the imperial edict was issued, the entire Ming Dynasty seemed to be in an uproar, with countless families wanting to move to Southeast Asia.

There was no other way. Land consolidation was too severe these days. Most ordinary people had lost their land and could only become tenant farmers, living a life where they were barely clothed and had no food. Even ordinary people who had land mostly only had ten or so acres of land per household, and the whole family could barely make ends meet by working from dawn till dusk.

Who doesn't want to be well-fed and clothed?

Who wants to be a tenant farmer for the rest of their life, never having enough to eat or wear?
Many coastal residents had already risked going to Southeast Asia, and those who didn't go were mostly afraid of the scorching heat there.

Now that the emperor himself is guaranteeing to provide cooling fans, what is there to be afraid of?

As for what a cooling fan is, it has long been known among the common people. There are cooling fans everywhere in the capital, and even quite a few in Nanjing, Qiongzhou Prefecture, and Nanyang. Although most ordinary people have never used one, they have heard of it and how incredibly cool it is.

Even if it's hot in Southeast Asia, it's impossible for people to be roasted alive. As long as there are cool fans blowing, it's probably more comfortable than the summer in the Ming Dynasty. Why not go?

Soon, a wave of enthusiasm for heading to Southeast Asia swept through the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Jue directly ordered Yang Sichang to recall all the large and medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships of the Nanyang Fleet. They were to be transported along the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and the coast of the Ming Dynasty. This way, not only could people be transported there, but timber from Nanyang could also be brought back. Neither side would be wasted, and it would not have much impact on transporting Nanyang supplies back to the Ming Dynasty.

Both the large and medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships were equipped with cooling fans. The ordinary people who were initially afraid of the heat were immediately drawn to the cool breeze once they boarded the ships.

At this time, the Nanyang Fleet had more than 1,200 large Zhiyuan merchant ships and 500 newly built medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships. Each trip could carry 700,000 to 800,000 households, a total of 3 to 4 million people. The transport capacity was sufficient, and about four trips would be enough to transport the population of Nanyang.

The problem is, the population of the Ming Dynasty at this time is not just over ten million. Even if it were farmers who have no land at all who wanted to migrate, it would still be at least forty or fifty million.

Everyone wants to be well-fed and clothed, and it seems that anyone without land wants to migrate to Southeast Asia. The number of people who migrated when Xiong Wencan and Yang He ascended the throne was probably more than 20 million. It seems that Southeast Asia is not yet able to provide enough food and clothing for so many people.

How to do it?

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Jue issued another decree stating that the Americas also needed a large population to cultivate the land, and those who wanted to migrate there would receive the same treatment. Each household would be given fifty mu of land, and the government would guarantee to provide cooling fans, farming tools, housing, seedlings, and even work during the off-season, with wages of four or five taels a month.

This sparked another wave of migration to the Americas across the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

Ordinary people just want to be well-fed and clothed. If they can't go to Southeast Asia, they can go to America. As long as they can be well-fed and clothed, it doesn't matter where they go.

The migration of tens of millions of people is no joke; it involves too many issues. Zhu Jue seems to have focused all his energy on developing overseas, and he seems too lazy to care about the Ming mainland. He also seems too lazy to deal with the Jurchens and rebels.

This is a classic example of putting the cart before the horse.

Does he really not intend to care about the rebels and the Jurchens?
of course not.

He was determined to deal with the rebels and the Jurchens. He didn't really concern himself with the relocation, since Xiong Wencan, Yang He, and Yang Sichang were in charge, so he didn't need to worry about it; he just needed to issue the decrees.

While the Ming Dynasty was experiencing a wave of migration, he was plotting to conquer the northern frontier.

Around 9 a.m. that day, after he had just finished processing the memorials, he summoned Lu Xiangshan, Bi Maokang, Yuan You, Tian Hongyu, Wei Zhongxian and others to the main hall of the Yuxi Palace.

After everyone had arrived, he pointed to the map on the table and asked, "Grandfather Tian, ​​how is the railway construction from the capital to Nanjing progressing?"

Uh, that won't happen that quickly.

Tian Hongyu said cautiously, "Your Majesty, the track has only been laid to Yangzhou Prefecture at this point, and the bridges over the Yellow River, Huai River, and Yangtze River have not yet been built. We don't know when the track will be fully connected. I can only try my best to lay the track to Jinling before the ice freezes."

That's fast enough.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "Don't worry about this track for now. Anyway, it's impossible for the area south of Yangzhou Prefecture to freeze in winter. Go to Xuanfu Town first, recruit young and strong farmers, and lay the track from Xuanhua to Datong Prefecture. This track must be completed before it freezes this year."

Ah!
Why are you thinking of laying tracks from Xuanfu Town to Datong Town again?
I don't seem to need to do anything about it; it's all the same no matter where I set up my shop.

Upon hearing this, Tian Hongyu was taken aback for a moment before nodding repeatedly and saying, "Your Majesty, I understand. I will go to Xuanfu Town tomorrow."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Jian Dou, do you know which route the Jurchen cavalry took through Datong Town to reach the Yuci area?"

This has already been reported.

Without hesitation, Lu Xiang-sheng said, "Your Majesty, the Jurchens entered the pass through Yanghe Pass, detoured through Hunyuan Prefecture and went straight to Taiyuan Prefecture. Datong Town was breached twice by Jurchen cavalry. Logically speaking, this road should have been reinforced long ago, but they did nothing, clearly allowing the Jurchens to enter the pass easily."

The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou were truly shameless in their efforts to protect their strongholds.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue pointed to the map and explained in detail: "I will promote Ying Yuan to the position of General of Xuanfu and Datong. You shall have him recruit 100,000 border troops to garrison Xuanfu and Datong."

"Have him move those 100,000 border troops to the Yanghekou and Hunyuanzhou areas to build fortresses and passes, blocking the Jurchen cavalry's route to Taiyuan."

Uh, weren't you planning to launch a counterattack on the grasslands beyond the Great Wall?
Why are you suddenly thinking of going to Datong Town to build fortresses and checkpoints?
The problem is, simply blocking one road isn't enough.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng cautiously said, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, there is actually more than one way to enter the pass from Datong Town. If the Jurchen cavalry were to take other routes, it would be similar. As long as there is an inside traitor to cooperate, they could easily reach the Yuci area as well."

In my humble opinion, without eliminating the traitors within, Datong Town will be difficult to defend. Completely blocking the Jurchen cavalry's path into the pass is unlikely. Our only option now is to launch a counter-offensive beyond the Great Wall, keeping the Jurchens busy and preventing their cavalry from invading the border.”

You don’t understand this.

Zhu Jue explained carefully: "Jian Dou, you know, it's like trying to cover something up, right?"

We deliberately sent people to block the Jurchens' route into the pass, making it appear as if we were strengthening the defenses of Datong Town to prevent the Jurchens from invading. The three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou would definitely be extremely nervous.

Think about it, if the Jurchens' route into the pass were blocked, wouldn't their stronghold be destroyed by the Hanzhong army?
At a time like this, do they even have the mind to pay attention to other things?

Oh, so you're trying to get their attention.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng slowly nodded and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

I'm glad you understand.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then instructed: "The bricks produced in the west of the capital are sufficient. You can order someone to use a horse-drawn railcart to transport a few million bricks to Xuanfu Town, so that they will mistakenly believe that we are making bricks to strengthen the defenses of Xuanfu Town and Datong Town."

This way, the frantic brick-making won't arouse suspicion from the mole.

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then instructed, "Zhongxian, you should also take the Embroidered Uniform Guards and make a big show of it, so that they think we're going to do something big in Datong Town."

Am I involved in this big show?

Wei Zhongxian nodded repeatedly and said, "This servant understands."

(End of this chapter)