Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 58 The Two Anti-Kings Are Extremely Abnormal (Part 2)

After reading Yang He's memorial, Zhu Jue suddenly realized that Gao Yingxiang, the rebel leader, and Zhang Xianzhong, the Eighth King, were extremely abnormal.

He had heard of these two people in his previous life; he could see them in many plays without even reading history books.

He had long heard that Gao Yingxiang, the rebel leader, came from a background of horse trading.

However, this was the first time he had heard that Zhang Xianzhong, the Eighth King, was originally a salt merchant.

There's nothing unusual about trading horses and salt, since these are the two most profitable businesses in the Northwest right now. If you have the connections, you'll definitely do it.

Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong must have had connections, so it's not surprising that they were involved in these two businesses.

The key point is that the two most profitable businesses in the Northwest are now controlled by the three major powerful families or the eight imperial merchants in Puzhou!

The relationship between the three powerful clans of Puzhou and Altan Khan had been extremely close since the Jiajing era. After the Longqing alliance, they were practically inseparable, and the horses produced outside the Great Wall could only be sold through the three powerful clans of Puzhou.

The same goes for salt. The three powerful families of Puzhou made their fortunes by trading salt. The Hedong Salt Field in Shanxi was also controlled by the three powerful families of Puzhou since the Jiajing period. If you wanted to trade salt, you had to buy it from the three powerful families of Puzhou.

In this way, it becomes extremely abnormal for Gao Yingxiang, the rebel king, and Zhang Xianzhong, the eighth king. If they had no connection with the three powerful clans of Puzhou, where would they have gotten their horses and salt?

Their connections in trading horses and salt must have come from the three powerful clans of Puzhou!

Another extremely abnormal point is that other rebel kings only rebelled because they were starving. Gao Yingxiang, the "Chuang King," and Zhang Xianzhong, the "Eighth King," were horse traders and salt traders, respectively. They were certainly well-fed and clothed, if not rolling in money.

Are they out of their minds?
They were living a perfectly good life, and suddenly they went to do this heinous business!
Historically, Gao Yingxiang was indeed subjected to a thousand cuts after he was arrested.

It would be a joke to say that they wanted to be emperor. If they wanted to be emperor, they should have gone it alone. How could they become emperor by joining Wang Jiayin's forces?
Besides, even if the Ming army is weak now, it's still not something that tens of thousands of rebels can defeat, not even hundreds of thousands. If they join Wang Jiayin's forces to rebel now, it's no different from courting death.

Another highly unusual thing is that after Wang Jiayin, the Prince of Fugu, led his men to Shanxi, he died inexplicably, and his successor, Wang Ziyong, the Prince of Zijinliang, also died inexplicably.

Among the rebel kings at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it seems that only Wang Jiayin, the Prince of Fugu, and Wang Ziyong, the Prince of Zijinliang, died mysteriously. At least Wang Jiayin was recorded in the county annals as having been assassinated, but no one knows how Wang Ziyong, the Prince of Zijinliang, died!

If Wang Jiayin and Wang Ziyong were around, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, and Zhang Xianzhong would never have been able to rise to prominence.

The death of Prince Jiayin of Fugu could be attributed to an accident, but the inexplicable death of Prince Zijinliang Ziyong was highly unusual.

Another point that is highly unusual is that most of the rebel kings came from Shaanxi, so why did they cross the river to Shanxi?

It's one thing for them to run off to Shanxi, but the real problem is that the three most powerful families and eight imperial merchants in Puzhou, Shanxi, who were famously wealthy, continued to do business even when there were rebels everywhere, and nothing happened to them.

If these rebels were truly bandits, their first targets should logically be the three wealthy clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou, whose riches rivaled those of a nation.

Besides, Gao Yingxiang was a horse trader and Zhang Xianzhong was a salt trader. How could they not know how rich the three powerful families and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou were?
This is like a salesperson in a company not knowing how much money the company makes—it's absurd!

They certainly knew how wealthy the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou were, and they even knew exactly where they kept their horses and stored their salt, but they just wouldn't rob them. They would rather rob the prince than rob the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou!
Another point is also very unusual. Historically, it seems that Huang Taiji was cooperating with Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong. Once Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong could not hold on, Huang Taiji would invade the capital region, draw away the main force of the Ming army, and give Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong a breather!
Li Zicheng's final actions were extremely abnormal. He fought his way through Shaanxi and Shanxi, wiped out all the Ming troops, captured the capital, and then gave Wu Sangui a sound beating. The strength he displayed was quite terrifying.

As a result, as soon as the Qing army marched south, his hundreds of thousands of troops immediately collapsed. There was no need for a fight, and he even abandoned the capital, the most magnificent city in the land, to the Qing army!

If it were said that he couldn't defeat the Qing army in the field, that would be possible. But how could the capital, with hundreds of thousands of troops defending a city wall at least three or four zhang high, not be able to hold out?
The Qing army only numbered a little over 100,000 men!
Their army was less than half his size, yet he abandoned the most formidable city in the land and simply ran away!
Is his behavior normal?

That's like suddenly losing your mind.

If he really only has this level of intelligence, how did he manage to conquer the Great Shun Dynasty?

Even if he were at his worst, he could leave 100,000 troops to guard the capital. Could the Qing army take it then? If we consider the casualty ratio between attacking and defending a city, even if he left 50,000 troops and the Qing army was wiped out, they still wouldn't be able to take the capital!

If they can't even defend a city, how did they manage to conquer the Great Shun dynasty?

Some people might think this is a conspiracy theory.

In fact, most of those who keep telling others not to believe in conspiracy theories are themselves fond of playing tricks and schemes. Their purpose in telling others not to believe in conspiracy theories is to trick others into being killed by them without them even knowing what happened!

Zhu Jue naturally wouldn't care about conspiracy theories.

He has already noticed so many abnormalities. If he still thinks that Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong have nothing to do with the Jurchens or the Eight Great Imperial Merchants, then he must be out of his mind.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

This demon is none other than the eight imperial merchants who betrayed the Ming Dynasty, or rather, the three powerful clans of Puzhou!

It now appears that the problems in the Northwest and Northeast are not as simple as he had imagined.

With these two forces secretly colluding and working together among the eight imperial merchants, how should he deal with them?

He thought about it carefully, and then solemnly said, "Since you have already brought more than 2.6 million shi of tax grain from Southern Zhili, then this year's tax grain from Henan and Shandong does not need to be brought to the capital."

Here's what we'll do: Send a thousand grain transport ships to Shandong to haul the tax grain from there to the capital in several trips. As for the tax grain from Henan, send two thousand ships with one million taels of silver there, then transport it to Shaanxi, where it will be given to Yang He for disaster relief and to pay the outstanding taxes and wages owed to the three border regions of Shaanxi.

Disaster relief is a good thing; doing good deeds will surely bring blessings.

Cao Huachun nodded repeatedly and said, "This servant understands."

Zhu Jue then said sternly, "Ruoyu, draft a secret decree ordering Yang He not to lead his troops across the river, but to wait for the money and provisions in Shaanxi. Once the money and provisions arrive, first pay the outstanding wages and provisions owed to the three border regions, and use the rest for disaster relief."

Furthermore, order Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou to lead their troops to guard the disaster relief funds and supplies; they must not be lost under any circumstances. Right now, saving as many disaster victims as possible is the most important thing. As for those rebels, let them flee; let's see where they can run to.”

Uh, so you mean, we don't care about the rebels!

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyu paused for a moment before quickly picking up his brush and writing.

Upon hearing this, Cao Huachun glanced at Wang Chengen, who was secretly waving his hand, but remained silent.

After seeing that Liu Ruoyu had finished writing, Zhu Jue said sternly, "Ruoyu, draft another decree, ordering the Ministry of Revenue to issue a document to all prefectures and counties in Shanxi, stating that this year's tax grain does not need to be handed over, but should be distributed locally to relieve the disaster victims, and all of it should be distributed within one month."

Anyone who dares to embezzle disaster relief grain, or feigns compliance while deliberately delaying, will be dismissed from office or stripped of their official rank at best, and their entire family will be executed at worst!

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyu immediately picked up his pen and began to write.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Elder, disaster relief funds and grain are the most important thing. Quickly take one million taels of silver from the inner treasury, and then send a ship to transport the grain."

Upon hearing this, Cao Huachun quickly bowed and took his leave.

Zhu Jue watched his retreating figure and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

History has changed. At least Wei Zhongxian is still alive, the stipends for the imperial princes have been stopped, and the Ming Dynasty is thriving and has not fallen into the abyss of destruction.

In this situation, those traitors who collude with the enemy and betray their country will probably accelerate their betrayal of the country, as evidenced by the early emergence of two extremely abnormal rebel kings!
(End of this chapter)