Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 685 Postscript (V) Year of Yao and Shun Day

In October of the third year of Yongchang, a sudden severe cold swept across France and the Netherlands.

France and the Netherlands, which were at war, were hit hard by the cold disaster. Domestic grain prices soared to five times what they were at the beginning of the year, and more than [-] million people were starving. In just half a month, people on the streets of Paris were found to be suffering from hunger and Tens of thousands of people died from the cold.

As the largest grain exporter, the Holy Roman Empire took the opportunity to raise grain prices, which directly caused tens of thousands of people in France and the Netherlands to starve to death and freeze to death every day.

Meanwhile, James II of England suppressed rebellions in Ireland and Scotland, but years of war ravaged agricultural production and sent domestic prices soaring.

In mid-October, anti-war sentiment in England and Wales was also rising, which led to the election of the anti-war Tory Party as a new parliamentary majority, while the anti-war faction in France and the Netherlands gradually gained the upper hand.

At such a moment, the principals of the State of Qi who were stationed in Paris, London, and Amsterdam found Louis XIV, James II, and William respectively.

In various palaces, these principals gave the rulers of the Three Kingdoms a list full of goods.

Qi State did not trade at a loss, but Qi State would not sell at a high price like the Holy Roman Empire.

Qi State doubled the original prices of many goods, and such prices are undoubtedly very low for the current Three Kingdoms.

In the winter month, Qi and the three countries signed three trade lists respectively.

One month later, Qi State will export 3000 million stones of wheat, 3000 million canned food, 50 catties of brown sugar, sucrose, and 30 bolts of white cloth to the three countries.

The price of these goods reached 500 million taels, which is equivalent to the fiscal revenue of the three countries for two years.

However, the rulers of the Three Kingdoms are not fools.

In the first month of the fourth year of Yongchang, when supplies from Qi State arrived in batches, the rulers of the Three Kingdoms declared that this was grain bought from the Holy Roman Empire and Qi State at a high price, and then sold at 150% of Qi State’s export price.

Scholars of the later generations of Qi State commented when introducing this period of history: "During this long trade that lasted for one and a half years, the Three Kingdoms used Qi State goods to harvest their own people, and a large number of middle class fell to the poor class, while the nobles of the Three Kingdoms received a great deal of wealth."

On April [-]th, Prince Zhu Yixuan and Qin Guogong Li Dingguo set off from Xijing Port and returned to Beijing.

On May 26, the fleet arrived in Tianjin.

On the fifth day of June, Emperor Zhu Heyin summoned officials from the cabinet, the six ministries, and the governor's office of the five armies to make adjustments to the cabinet positions.

On July [-]th, when Tian Wenjing, the censor of Zuodu, inspected the Jiugang province, he discovered that there were a large number of hidden fields in Jiugang.

In October, Tian Wenjing impeached 640 old Hong Kong officials, including Zeng Gong, the former governor of Jiugang, Zheng Can, the procurator, and Guo Houwei, the military envoy, and listed three of them and their accomplices for crimes.

According to Tian Wenjing's visit and investigation, the chief envoy of Jiugang, Si Tianmu, has been corrupted and concealed by officials since the 12th year of Qiansheng. By the fourth year of Yongchang, many officials who had served in Jiugang had more or less concealed a large number of acres.

On October [-]th, Emperor Yongchang Zhu Heyin sent Li Siqian, son of Qin Guogong Li Dingguo, to Jiugang to investigate.

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Siqian played a memorial to Emperor Yongchang, saying that officials in the old port had been corrupted a lot in the past, and even officials in Nanzhou were involved.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month of the fifth year of Yongchang, the emperor ordered Tian Wenjing to conduct a thorough investigation of the number of hidden fields in Jiugang and Nanzhou, and ordered all officials of the old port and Nanzhou to be imprisoned.

In February, Tian Wenjing led officials to Nanzhou.

On February [-]th, Liu Cheng, the commander-in-chief of Nanzhou, and Yang Chong, the envoy of soldiers and horses, rebelled. Wu Jian, the commander of Jinyiwei Nanzhouwei, attacked and killed Tian Wenjing. Tian Wenjing jumped into the sea to escape.

After the incident broke out, Liu Cheng and Yang Chong internally declared that the old port rebellion closed the Beigang (Bamajia) gate of Nanzhou, and many ports, and the soldiers and civilians of Nanzhou were unaware of it.

At this time, after more than 60 years of development, Nanzhou has a population of more than [-] million people. The army and soldiers and horses have a total of more than [-] soldiers. In addition, Nanzhou is an important mining site for iron ore in Daming. Therefore, the local shipyard The number is not small.

It's just that Liu Cheng and Yang Chong overestimated their prestige in the army and Nanzhou, and even more overestimated the courage of the people around them.

Guo Zhaoqing, the chief envoy of Nanzhou who also participated in the Yintian case, did not dare to rebel at all, so he took advantage of the time when Liu Cheng and others attacked and killed Tian Wenjing to go north by boat, and ran to the Nanhai Mansion in Jiugang to tell Li Siqian about the Nanzhou rebellion.

Upon hearing the news, Li Sigian immediately went to the shuffle, and at the same time sent ships to Nanzhou Dongzhou Prefecture (New Zealand).

Fortunately, Dongzhou Prefecture is far away from Nanzhou, not only did not participate in the "Yintian case", but also did not join forces with Liu Cheng and others.

On March [-]th, Tian Wenjing fled back to Nanhai Mansion, and at the same time news of the Liu Yang Rebellion spread to Beijing.

Emperor Yongchang, who was informed of the situation, ordered Qian Guogong Muzhen to lead the Southern Army to suppress the rebellion, with the navy assisting.

On March [-]th, the governor of the Southern Army and the Duke of Qian, Muzhen, arrived at Jiaozhi, and mobilized troops from five provinces including Jiaozhi, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Jiugang. .

On the tenth day of April, Mu Zhen led [-] battalions of troops from five provinces, joined forces with about [-] people from the South China Sea Fleet to swear an oath in Nan'an Port, Dongshan Prefecture, and ordered people to spread the news, saying that "the good ones stand still, and the offenders will not be killed if they surrender."

It wasn't until this time that the soldiers and civilians in Beigang knew about Liu Yang's rebellion.

On the [-]th, the army crossed the sea, and the soldiers and civilians of Beigang opened the port to meet the king's division. The army landed in Beigang without hindrance.

At the same time, the soldiers and civilians in various parts of Nanzhou also stood still as Mu Zhen said.

When they did this, Liu Cheng, Yang Chong, and Wu Jian, a group of generals and officials who had hidden a lot of cultivated land, were immediately in a hurry.

On the [-]th, when Mu Zhen led the army to Hepu Mansion, the soldiers stationed in Hepu tied up Liu Cheng, Yang Chong, and Wu Jian's confidantes, and at the same time hurriedly opened the city gate to welcome Wang Shi.

On the 23rd, Liu Cheng, Yang Chong, and Wu Jian were shocked when they learned of Muzhen's occupation of Hepu County. They immediately hijacked a ship at the port of Jiuzhenfu (Sydney) with more than [-] confidants.

A ship full of gold, silver and jewels and three ships became their shelter, and they fled westward all the way.

On the 24th, a soldier who found Liu Cheng and other generals absent boldly opened the gate of Liu Cheng's mansion.

After discovering that Liu Cheng and his family were missing, they hurriedly sent someone to notify Mu Zhen of Hepu County.

On the 27th, after getting the news, Mu Zhen hurriedly played the emperor.

On the [-]th, the guard of Ningming County reported that he saw four ships heading west. When Mu Zhen learned about it, he quickly sent the South China Sea Fleet to pursue them westward.

On the third day of May, Emperor Yongchang Zhu Heyin, who learned that Nanzhou had recovered and Liu Yang had escaped, ordered Lin Liang, the naval governor, to encircle and suppress Liu Cheng and Yang Chong.

On May 27, the Kunlun Supervision Envoy Si Dongping prefect made a statement, saying that Huangdian maritime merchants had found traces of traitors in the south of Dongping Prefecture.

On the fifth day of June, the naval governor Lin Liang led the Atlantic Fleet to encounter Liu and Yang in the south of Kunlun Prefecture (Cape of Good Hope) and ordered the bombardment.

On the same day, Liu Cheng was shot and died, Yang Chong jumped into the sea and drowned, Wu Jian killed himself, and the Liu-Yang rebellion that had been raging for several months since then was completely subsided.

Strictly speaking, this cannot be called a rebellion, because Liu, Yang, and Wu did not have the ability to strictly control their subordinates.

Except for the mid-level and high-level generals who were in the same boat as them, most of the grassroots officers and soldiers trusted Daming more than the commander-in-chief.

The reason for this phenomenon can be traced back to the military region replacement system set by King Qi during the Tianqi period.

This system has been well maintained, so there is also a saying in the army that there are "iron camps and flowing soldiers".

Almost every three to five years, the troops of the Five Armies Dudufu will be rotated.

Except for the position of the generals above the chief soldier will basically not change, the rest of the middle and grassroots generals and soldiers such as generals, garrison, chief banner officer, team leader, and corps leader will undergo a major reshuffle.

In addition, with the increase in population, the younger generation is tall and strong, and the salary of soldiers is very respected and their income is high, so the selection requirements for soldiers are also very strict.

During the Tianqi period, when Zhu Ciran, Emperor Qiansheng, was still the prince of Jian Guo, he further stricted the retirement age of soldiers in generals to below 30 years old.

During the Qiansheng period, he improved the education, height, and stamina required for the selection of soldiers.

Education must not be lower than middle school, the height shall not be less than five feet four inches (172.8), and the quarter of an hour shall not be less than six miles.

These two alone make many people flinch.

Therefore, in the Yongchang period, those who were able to join the army were all those who could mount a horse as a soldier and dismount as an official in the various vassals.

They have their own thoughts and opinions on politics, so they will not follow the general's orders foolishly and loyally like ancient soldiers.

In this incident, the soldiers of the Southern Army stationed in Nanzhou also proved to many careerists in the country with their actions that it is impossible to engage in armed struggle in Ming Dynasty in a short period of time, and it is impossible to instigate the army.

In addition, the attitude of the people made those ambitious people see the unshakable status of Ming Dynasty.

In the face of Liu, Yang, and Wu commanding the soldiers of the Bingma Division and the yamen servants of the Criminal Ministry to collect food, most of the people simply ignored them, and even persuaded the soldiers and yamen servants of the Bingma Division who they knew to hide secretly.

In this way, the three people who hold the military power can hardly mobilize any formed [-]-man team except for their own confidantes.

Even those local officials who play with pens are not afraid of their sharp knives. The martial arts of civil officials in Ming Dynasty have been cultivated in the Tianqi period.

All these are the factors that made the rebellion of Liu, Yang, and Wu a joke.

However, Daming is not absolutely without problems.

For example, Wu Jian, the commander of Jinyiwei this time, raised the flag to rebel. No one in Nanzhou Jinyiwei reported the news in advance, but relied on Guo Zhaoqing, the chief envoy of Nanzhou who participated in the Yintian case.

If Guo Zhaoqing didn't report the letter, then if Tian Wenjing escapes to Nanhai Mansion and then plays the performance, I am afraid that the Liu Yang Rebellion will really "chaos".

Therefore, when the news of many generals in the Liuyang Rebellion who had subdued the law in the naval battle reached the capital, Emperor Yongchang Zhu Heyin even ordered that Lu Yuangao, the commander of Jinyiwei, the veteran of the three dynasties, should be dismissed from his post, and at the same time he be bestowed the title of Marquis of Heyang to appease him. .

On the fifth day of September, Teng Wang Zhu Yi was in charge of the Jinyiwei, and the emperor ordered him to investigate the Jinyiwei. At the same time, he ordered the East Factory eunuch Xiao Teng to inspect the East Factory himself.

On the tenth day of the lunar new year, the emperor wrote Zuodu Censor Tian Wenjing to lead the Minister of the Ministry of Officials in Nanjing to continue to inspect the world, and transferred to the straight Baoding camp to protect him.

On the first day of October, the surviving criminals of the Liu Yang case were taken to Beijing, and the emperor wrote down the penalty of tearing the 420 seven people apart.

This kind of news relieved many relatives who were involved in these people's "out of the three services". After all, when Emperor Taizong Cheng was still there, he was always "killing the nine clans".

In comparison, the current Emperor Yongchang is simply too benevolent...

At noon on the third day of October, with screams, the Liu Yang Rebellion was completely over.

There was no interference from others, and Liu Yang's rebellion was unsuccessful, so many officials involved in the Jiugang and Nanzhou Yintian cases surrendered themselves.

Because they voluntarily surrendered, they did not end up with a beheading, but were sentenced to three clans exiled to Kuwu Mansion in Lingbei (Sakhalin Island).

After the Yintian case, Tian Wenjing beheaded 270 four stubborn corrupt officials and punished more than [-] accomplice officials.

After this group of officials implicated the three ethnic groups, a total of nearly 27 people were exiled.

After the case was over, Tian Wenjing stayed in Jiugang for half a year, and then he measured the number of all "hidden fields" and counted everyone's property.

According to the memorandum written on the third day of June in the eighth year of Yongchang, Tian Wenjing found a total of 640 million mu of hidden land in Jiugang and Nanzhou, and confiscated 770 and six boxes of money, grain, jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, and antiques, equivalent to 620 million in silver. Five thousand 400 taels...

The seizures in Old Port and Nanzhou left everyone dumbfounded.

With only acres of land, the officials of the two provinces took over [-]% of the remaining acres of land from the Ming Dynasty, and the cash was enough to make the Ming Dynasty wealthy enough to spend half a year.

Needless to say, Zhu Heyin knew where these things came from.

Although he didn't kill 10 people in one breath, it wasn't that he was soft-hearted, but that he knew that this kind of people couldn't be killed.

Instead of killing them, it's better to throw them into a poor place, so as to give Daming a firm foothold there.

In July, the emperor ordered Tian Wenjing to distribute all the land to families with too many children who could not afford it.

In August, Tian Wenjing distributed more than [-] million mu of cultivated land to more than [-] million households.

In September, Tian Wenjing set off for Luchuan. At the same time, France, the Netherlands, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and other countries in the west of the Eurasian continent had many anti-war parties due to the long-term war.

On September [-], the four countries signed the "Riswick Peace Treaty", which ended the nine-year Grand Alliance War.

The signing of the peace treaty allowed the warring camps to gain and lose each other.

Among them, although France gained Strasbourg, it lost the territory and sea control of other countries newly captured in the "Grand Alliance" war.

In addition, France further reduced its tariffs on the Netherlands and returned parts of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.

After all, the Sun King Louis XIV failed to defeat the European countries and failed to realize his ideal of unifying Europe.

On the fifth day of March in the ninth year of Yongchang, Zhang Huangyan, the governor of the Qi State, who was known as the arm of the Qi State, died at the age of 78.

The king of Qi stopped the court for three days, and the emperor Yongchang stopped the court for one day, and he was granted the posthumous title of "Zhenwu" by the posthumous title of Marquis of Ningbo.

His son, Zhang Shiqi, did not descend to attack the noble, and became the Marquis of Ningbo.

At this time, apart from the lineage of the King of Qi, the only one who had seen the Three Great Ming Emperors in Qi State was Xia Wanchun, the 67-year-old servant of the household department of Qi State, and he also succeeded Zhang Huangyan as the chief historian after Zhang Huangyan passed away.

In April, the telegraph line from Beijing of Ming Dynasty to Seoul of North Korea was connected.

Knowing that the telegram was connected, King Li Xuan of North Korea became the first king to present his status to the emperor as a foreign vassal.

Since the above is a "text", it does not need to be too official, so the translation expressed by Li Xuan in this telegram is...

[Long live, I heard that the telegram between Seoul and Tianjing has been communicated, and I am here to congratulate you. 】

As for the text written by Li Xuan, because it was the first copy, it was rare for Zhu Heyin to ask someone to move the telegraph to his Hall of Mental Cultivation, and ordered someone to tap and respond:
[I know that Aiqing has a heart, and I heard that Aiqing is diligent, so you must remember to rest. 】

Zhu Heyin's approval made Li Xuan, who was watching the Telegraph Office in Seoul, ecstatic, and then he continued to say hundreds of words of compliments, until finally Zhu Heyin was a little impatient, and could only reply "I know." Three words to prevaricate.

Maybe even Zhu Heyin himself didn't expect how much trouble he caused himself by sending a telegram to Seoul.

According to the records in the "National History" by the daily commentary, since April [-], the telegraph office in Seoul was able to go directly to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, as the king of Joseon, Lee Bong reported every day in detail.

In just a few dozen days from April [-] to the first day of June, Li Xuan submitted fifty telegrams in a row, the content of which was very boring.

[Hwangming Korean King Li Xuan reported on April [-]th: Today, at Maoshi, I heard that a golden stone was fished in Pusan. I think this is auspicious, implying that the imperial fortune will be prosperous in the future, so I report it. 】

[Hall of Mental Cultivation replies: The so-called auspiciousness is nothing more than faked by local officials for the sake of political achievements. 】

[Hwangmyeong Joseon Lord Li Xuan reported on April 26: Today, the apples in Bukcheong County, South Hamgyong Province, are ripe, and the officials below sent some to the ministers to eat. This kind of apple tastes very unique, crisp and sweet. The minister wants the Ministry of Rites The officials of the city bring some for you to taste. 】

[Hall of Mental Cultivation: Recently, the fruit harvest in the southwestern part of the country has been abundant, and the palace eats a lot of fruit, so there is no need to send it away. 】

[Hwangmyeong Joseon King Li Xuan reported on the sixth day of May: Two villains in Gyeonggi Province robbed children on the road, and I have ordered people to investigate. 】

[Hall of Mental Cultivation replies: Those who kidnap children are the worst, and they should be severely punished. 】

[Li Yun, the emperor of the Ming dynasty, reported on the tenth day of the fifth lunar month: The captive child was found, and his father and uncle took him to the south to take care of him. His parents had reconciled in March. 】

[Hwangming Korean King Li Xuan reported on May [-]: Today, the minister led hundreds of officials to marinate kimchi in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace. It will be eaten after ten days. I want to give some to Wansui. 】

[Hall of Mental Cultivation replies: I like hot food, and you should keep it for yourself. I heard that food in Ping An Road is rising, agriculture is the foundation of the country, and you are the lord of the country, so you should deal with it as soon as possible. 】

[The king of the Ming Dynasty, Li Xuan, reported on May [-]: I am ashamed, I have sent people to investigate thoroughly a few days ago, it was caused by the mountain torrents in the local area, and I have exempted the local tax for one year, God's grace is mighty. 】

[The king of the Ming Dynasty, Li Xuan, reported on the first day of June: I heard that Wansui had recently contracted a cold, so I stopped the court for three days, and led all the officials to pray for Wansui in the Buddhist hall. 】

[Reply from the Palace of Mental Cultivation: I have read it, and I am very relieved. 】

It is not difficult to see from the submitted and approved texts that Zhu Heyin responded carefully to Li Yun's texts from the beginning, then "I have read it" later, and then directly refused to reply except for major matters.

This process was very torturous, and Zhu Heyin seemed unable to bear such memorials, so he issued a decree on the fifth day of June, ordering that the interval between local text reports should not be less than three days.

After this decree was issued, Zhu Heyin also became much quieter.

It seems that the gospel came after the noise. In July, the telegraph line in the Yingchao Strait was successfully laid. This is the world's first submarine communication cable.

In October, the Ming Military Academy successfully lit up a room in the Forbidden City with tungsten wire by using steam pumps and hydroelectric power generation devices.

In February of the tenth year of Yongchang, the Daming Military Academy did not use tungsten wire as the filament due to technical problems, but used carbon wire.

On the fifth day of March, vacuum bulbs with carbon filaments energized and glowing were connected to wires, and the world's first stable electric light appeared in the Military Armament Academy in Mentougou.

On the seventh day of March, after 21 hours of experimentation, the carbon filament of the electric lamp burned out.

After this incident, the bachelors of the Armament Academy continued to experiment, and finally determined that the "carbon filament lamp" could only last for 150 hours.

At this time, the cost of the bulbs was 45 renminbi each, and 45 renminbi was exchanged for [-] days of lighting. This may be a bit expensive for Europe and West Asia, but it is just enough for the people of Ming Dynasty.

However, in view of the fact that the power system has not been thoroughly studied, electric lights did not enter the homes of ordinary people, but were used with batteries in some palaces in the Forbidden City.

In April of the same year, as the patriarch of the three dynasties, Gongsun Kewang of Liang Guo died at home at the age of 87.

The emperor Zhu Heyin, who heard the news, quit the court for three days, and posthumously named the King of Jianye, with the posthumous title of "Wenduan".

　The population of Yongchang in ten years:
　　1. South Zhili, 3350 million

　　2. Zhejiang Province, 3016 million

　　3. Jiangxi Province, 2622 million

　　4. Huguang Province, 2408 million

　　5. Yingzhou Province, 2014 million

　　6. Luchuan Province, 1989 million

　　7. Shandong Province, 1907 million

　　8. Henan Province, 1869 million

　　9. Shanxi Province, 1653 million

　　10. North Zhili, 1599 million

　　11. Old Port Province, 1427 million

　　12. Cochin Province, 1414 million

　　13. Sichuan Province, 1471 million

　　14. Guangdong Province, 1285 million

　　15. Fujian Province, 1105 million

　　16. Shaanxi Province, 1023 million

　　17. Yunnan Province, 1017 million

　　18. Hexi Province, 1002 million

　　19. Liaodong Province, 969 million

　　20. Donghai Province, 939 million

　　Modong Province, 915 million

　　Ganga, 914 million

　　Guangxi Province, 880 million

　　Guizhou Province, 722 million

　　Nanzhou Province, 595 million

　　Xiaoyangyang, 449 million

　　Kunlun, 445 million

　　Beiting Province, 431 million

　　Anxi, 415 million

　　Shanyu Province, 409 million

　　Bac Son Province, 374 million

　　Ha Tinh Province, 368 million

　　Western Province, 357 million

　　Lingbei Province, 311 million

　　Uzbekistan Province, 57

　　Middle East Oversight Division, 32

　　In summary, the total population of Yongchang in ten years is 4 million

　　
　
(End of this chapter)