Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 57 The Two Anti-Kings Are Extremely Abnormal (Part 1)

With the grand plan for the southwest settled, the Ming Dynasty had a strategy to deal with the widespread warfare.

However, countermeasures are just countermeasures; they do not mean that the fighting will automatically cease once countermeasures are in place.

Implementing this countermeasure will require a significant investment of human, material, and financial resources.

Without sufficient manpower, material resources, and financial resources, even the best countermeasures are useless.

Where do we get enough manpower, material resources, and financial resources?
The agrarian society of the Ming Dynasty has come to an end. Only by developing industry can we save enough manpower, manufacture enough weapons and equipment, and earn enough money.

Therefore, after Zhu Jue finalized the grand plan for the southwest, he began to focus his efforts on developing industry.

For industry to develop, transportation is of paramount importance.

At this point, land transport was out of the question, and air transport was even more out of the question, as the Ming Dynasty didn't yet have any aircraft capable of flying. His only option was to focus on water transport.

The problem is that it takes one or two months, or even several months, just to finalize the materials for a wooden ship. The ship cannot be developed in a short time. What should we do?

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty had tens of thousands of grain transport ships, and with a little adjustment, a large number of these ships could be deployed to meet the emergency.

He immediately ordered someone to deliver an urgent decree, summoning his chief attendant Cao Huachun to the capital.

Cao Huachun arrived quite quickly this time.

This is because he was transporting tax grain from Southern Zhili to the capital.

Around 9 a.m. that morning, Zhu Jue had just finished reviewing the memorials and was about to set off for the East City when a voice announced, "Cao Huachun requests an audience."

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen couldn't help but show a hint of excitement.

Zhu Jue replied without hesitation, "Send it."

Soon, Cao Huachun strode in, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "This servant greets Your Majesty."

His voice was trembling slightly, which showed that he was really excited.

Regardless of his abilities, Cao Huachun's feelings for Emperor Chongzhen were absolutely genuine.

Historically, he had retired to his hometown and was not in the capital at all, but he was falsely accused of opening the city gates to welcome Li Zicheng into Beijing.

Having suffered such an unjust accusation, he should never have appeared in the capital again, for if he did, he would never be able to clear his name. However, upon hearing of Chongzhen's suicide, he still dragged his old and frail body back to the capital, exhausting his family fortune and seeking donations everywhere to arrange Chongzhen's funeral.

Emperor Shunzhi was moved by his loyalty and ordered him to stay in the palace. However, he only asked Shunzhi to clarify the matter of opening the city gates for Li Zicheng before returning to his hometown to live out his days.

It is rare in this world for a slave to be sent off to his master in his final days. At that time, the country had changed hands, yet Cao Huachun was still able to rush back to the capital to handle the funeral arrangements for Emperor Chongzhen. His loyalty was truly touching.

Thinking of this, Zhu Juena was somewhat moved and said, "Big brother, it's been years since I last saw you, you've aged so much."

Wang Chengen couldn't help but say in a trembling voice, "Yes, my benefactor, how come your hair has all turned white?"

Cao Huachun was only in his forties at the time, and it was quite rare for someone his age to have a full head of white hair.

He couldn't help but sigh, "Alas, the late emperor has passed away, and Your Majesty has ascended the throne. The palace is full of Wei Zhongxian's people. I am worried about Your Majesty's safety. In my anxiety, my hair has turned white without me even realizing it."

How worried are you?
Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "My lord, I'm fine. Wei Zhongxian was actually being used. He didn't have the guts to assassinate the emperor."

That's not necessarily the case.

Cao Huachun couldn't help but advise, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that Wei Zhongxian is too vicious and cannot be allowed to live."

He initially flattered Wei Chao to enter the palace, and Wei Chao treated him like a fellow villager, taking good care of him. However, he turned around and snatched away Madam Ke, who was having an affair with Wei Chao, and then framed Wei Chao!

Furthermore, his benefactor had valued him so much and promoted him repeatedly, yet he framed his benefactor in order to seize control of the inner palace, causing his benefactor to be sent to the South Sea Palace as a purgatory soldier. Even after that, he did not let his benefactor go. He even ordered his confidants to cut off his benefactor's food supply, trying to starve him to death. His benefactor survived by eating grass, and he actually ordered his confidants to beat his benefactor to death!
"Your Majesty, I dare to say, Wei Zhongxian is the most vicious person in the world; such a person must not be allowed to live."

You're right, Wei Zhongxian was indeed the most vicious person in the world.

However, some things require such wicked people to do.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "My lord, don't worry. I know how vicious Wei Zhongxian is. I will be wary of him. The reason I keep him around is because I need someone to take the blame."

If you need someone else to take the blame, why are you risking keeping such a vicious person around?
Upon hearing this, Cao Huachun was about to offer further advice. However, Wang Chengen kept giving him meaningful glances and subtly waving his hand, signaling him to stop trying.

The Emperor's decisions are beyond question!

When Cao Huachun saw Wang Chengen's anxious look, he seemed to understand. To put it bluntly, he was just a servant, and it was wrong for him to try to change his master's mind.

He thought for a moment before carefully saying, "Since Your Majesty knows that this person needs to be guarded against, this servant will not say any more."

That's right.

I wouldn't bother explaining so much to you if it weren't for your unwavering loyalty.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then said solemnly, "Well, let's not talk about that. Let's get down to business. Elder, how many cargo ships did you bring this time, and how much grain did you bring?"

That's a lot.

Cao Huachun explained in detail: "His Majesty has decreed that all available grain transport ships be mobilized to haul this shipment of grain. I dare not neglect this duty. I have mobilized almost all the grain transport ships in the Southern Zhili region, totaling more than 3,000 ships of 400 tons and more than 1,000 ships of 800 tons, which have hauled a total of more than 2.6 million shi of grain."

That brings the total to over four thousand cargo ships, which is excellent.

Zhu Jue then asked, "Where is the fleet now?"

Uh, I came here on horseback after receiving an imperial decree.

Cao Huachun quickly explained, "Your Majesty, the first thousand or so ships of the fleet only arrived in Wuqing yesterday, and the last thousand or so ships probably haven't even reached Cangzhou yet."

These cargo ships, fully loaded, can travel about 150 li a day downstream and 50-60 li a day upstream. This section of the North Canal is upstream. I estimate that the first thousand or so ships will be lucky to reach the Tongzhou cargo wharf in two days. As for the last thousand or so ships, it will probably take another five days.

There was no other way; the cargo boats relied entirely on human rowing, and once fully loaded, they were really difficult to row.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "Master, the imperial court will no longer issue stipends of rice to the imperial princes, so we will have to change the way the grain is transported."

Originally, the tax grain transported to the capital was only four or five million shi (a unit of dry measure), but after the suspension of the stipends for princes and nobles, the tax grain transported from Henan and Shandong alone amounted to four or five million shi.

Therefore, from now on, we only need to transport the tax grain from Henan and Shandong to the capital. The main grain-producing areas in Shandong are less than a thousand miles from the capital, and the main grain-producing areas in Henan are only a thousand two or three hundred miles from the capital. However, Nanjing is more than two thousand miles away from the capital, which means we save nearly half the distance.

If we calculate based on the round trip distance, the distance has been shortened by more than 70%. This means that we only need about 3,000 grain transport ships to transport grain to the capital; the remaining ships can be repurposed.

Why did you stop all the stipends for the imperial princes?

Cao Huachun glanced at Wang Chengen, but decided not to ask any further questions.

He nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. This way we have indeed saved most of the grain transport boats."

These saved cargo boats will be of great use.

Zhu Jue explained in detail: "As you can see, we have built many factories along the Tonghui River and Chaobai River. In the future, we will be able to smelt steel, make glass, and even spin yarn, weave cloth, and make porcelain, all of which require a lot of raw materials."

We'll use the remaining grain transport boats to transport these raw materials. The most important ones right now are coal and pig iron. We need at least a thousand grain transport boats, divided into five groups, to continuously transport grain from Jizhou Town along the grain transport river to Tongzhou.

As they were discussing, Fang Zhenghua suddenly strode in, carrying a memorial, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Governor-General Yang He of the Three Borders has sent an urgent report from eight hundred li away."

Yang He must have arrived in Shaanxi long ago, since they rode there at breakneck speed.

This guy probably dealt with the rebels first before submitting his report.

At present, the number of rebels in the Northwest is at most tens of thousands. This number is nothing compared to the tens of thousands of elite Guan Ning cavalry. Moreover, his intention is to mainly appease them and only to suppress them if they cannot be appeased. He is not too worried about the situation in the Northwest.

He took the memorial and saw that, as expected, most of the rebels surrendered at the first sign of trouble. Only the largest group, led by Wang Jiayin of Fugu, was so frightened that they crossed the river on rafts and fled to Hequ and Baode Prefecture in Shanxi.

Yang He also asked whether they should pursue and wipe out this largest rebel group, because he had interrogated the rebels who had stayed in the area and had not crossed the river. Fu Gu Wang Jiayin had recently recruited two relatively strong rebel groups, and if they were not wiped out quickly, they would probably grow stronger very soon.

One of the two rebel groups was led by Gao Yingxiang, the King of Chuang, who came from a horse trading background and seemed to have a considerable number of warhorses. The other group was led by Zhang Xianzhong, the Eighth King, who came from a salt trading background and was also able to obtain smuggled iron. Both of them traveled between Shaanxi and Shanxi to sell horses and salt, and were quite familiar with Shanxi.

Are Gao Yingxiang, the "Rebel King," and Zhang Xianzhong, the "Eight Great Kings"?

How did these two major rebel kings suddenly appear now?
Something is wrong!

(End of this chapter)