Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Spring returns to the earth and everything revives.

With the holding of fashion festivals, music festivals and other events, Beijing becomes increasingly lively in March.

The meritorious soldiers from Liaodong also entered Beijing one after another after the ice was thawed.

As the commander of the Liaohe Fleet and one of the meritorious officials who was granted the title of Earl for his achievements, Zheng Zhihu led his meritorious soldiers to Tianjin by boat early on.

In Tianjin, he discovered that the city had changed a lot again.

Not only were there many goods being loaded and unloaded at the dock, but also a large number of sea fish being caught.

Seeing his curiosity, the naval officer who came to greet him said:
"These seafoods are exactly what the capital needs."

“They used to smell bad easily and couldn’t be transported very far.”

"Now that the railway is open, goods can be transported very quickly."

"His Majesty also enjoys seafood, and he ordered the opening of a special channel for fresh goods to ensure their immediate passage through customs."

Zheng Zhihu nodded, then pointed to the enormous whale and said:

"Do people actually eat this kind of fish?"

"I heard it doesn't taste very good."

An official from the naval office laughed:
"We should be grateful to have meat to eat; why should we be picky?"

"However, the main purpose of these whales is for oil extraction."

“Whale brain oil produces no smoke or odor when burned, and it has a high brightness and very stable light.”

"The nobles in the capital liked to use whale oil candles, and scholars also liked them very much."

"If it weren't for the emperor's requirement that whalings be brought back intact, they would have simply rendered oil at sea."

Zheng Zhihu shook his head upon hearing this, agreeing with the emperor's request.

He also believed that it was a waste to only extract oil from whales after they were killed, since there were so many disaster victims in the Ming Dynasty, and whale meat could feed many people.

While chatting about these things, Zheng Zhihu became extremely curious about railways. Thinking of the horse-drawn carriages he had seen in the capital, he asked:
"Has the horse-drawn rail line between Beijing and Tianjin opened yet?"

Are there regular buses?

The official in charge responded:

"There are no passenger buses, only freight trucks."

"The distance between Beijing and Tianjin is too far. They said they would only start operating the bus service after the accident rate statistics are available and it is acceptable."

"It is said that it is not far away. Chen Taipu wants to rely on his achievements in the Beijing-Tianjin Railway to secure a good position during the reshuffle."

Zheng Zhihu laughed upon hearing this:
“If this railway is well built, then Chen Taipu should certainly be promoted.”

"With the railway, the canal transport in the Beijing-Tianjin section can no longer be so powerful."

"They're delusional to think they can use the Grand Canal to control our maritime transport!"

He was extremely supportive of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway, but spoke ill of the Grand Canal.

The officials in the naval office shared the same attitude.

They also support maritime transport and have strong opinions against canal transport.

The rapid opening of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway and the creation of a fresh food supply route were greatly facilitated by the naval authorities.

Without their strong support, how could the trucks on this route have a steady supply of seafood?
Now, those in the canal transport business are getting restless. They're setting up canal-based cruise ships, modeled after ocean-going vessels. They're taking advantage of the temporary inability of the Beijing-Tianjin railway to carry passengers, hoping to seize this market.

However, the people in the naval authorities didn't care much about this. Passenger transport was far less profitable than freight transport.

With the improvement of coastal ports, docks, and lighthouses, the maritime accident rate has decreased. More and more goods prefer to be transported by sea, avoiding the inconvenience of canal transport.

Support for maritime transport is growing, forming a large interest group.

This is also why there wasn't much opposition when Zhu Youjian proposed the "Naval Law" in court.
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Zheng Zhihu was also very concerned about the Naval Act.

After learning about this, he began to think about how to use this bill to achieve even greater merit.

Upon learning that the draft of the Naval Act was still being prepared, he immediately set off from Tianjin by carriage to Beijing. This allowed him to avoid Zhang Pu and prevent them from meeting on the Grand Canal.

However, Zheng Zhihu didn't care about this, and he wasn't familiar with Zhang Pu either.

After arriving in the capital, he went to pay his respects to Yang Jingchen.

Both men were from Quanzhou Prefecture. According to the imperial court's system of avoiding conflicts of interest among people from the same hometown, being from the same prefecture meant being from the same hometown.

Yang Jingchen held the Zheng brothers, who were related by marriage, in high regard.

Although these two men were originally pirates, they were highly regarded by the emperor. Now, with two uncles from the same family, they are already rising stars in the Chongzhen era.

Upon learning that Zheng Zhihu wanted to participate in the drafting of the "Naval Act," he immediately agreed and promised to recommend him for the role.
"The Emperor values ​​those who get things done."

"General Zheng is a renowned naval commander. His Majesty will surely be pleased with your participation in drafting the bill."

"Once you're in the capital, focus on your work and don't get involved with certain people."

Zheng Zhihu chuckled sheepishly:
"I don't know anything, I'll just listen to the scholar."

Is the capital in chaos right now? Who's trying to cause trouble?

Yang Jingchen sighed and said:

"Who else could it be?"

"Of course it's those Donglin members."

"His Majesty has just untied them and allowed them to form associations."

"These people then jumped out and spouted nonsense, organizing all sorts of poetry gatherings and literary events."

“Even worse, some people used the gathering to slander court officials.”

"I think they're forming cliques and engaging in factionalism and exclusion!"

Yang Jingchen slammed his fist on the table in frustration, feeling quite indignant.

He thought that since he was in such a high position and had long since severed ties with the eunuch faction, no one should be able to use this as a pretext to attack him.

As a result, after those young people associated with the Donglin Party formed their own association, he realized that he had been far too optimistic.

These people openly and covertly mocked the existence of eunuch factions in the imperial court, intending to oust them all during the leadership transition.

He was so angry that he fell seriously ill and harbored considerable hostility towards those people. He couldn't help but bring it up when talking to Zheng Zhihu.

Zheng Zhihu had just arrived in Beijing and was unaware of the conflict between him and the Donglin Party, nor did he dare to get involved.

He quickly took his leave, and Yang Jingchen shook his head as he watched his departing figure.

"Although we are from the same hometown, we are not of the same mind!"

Guo Yunhou stepped out from behind the screen and said:

"It's good enough that we're from the same hometown; do you really expect him to obey you?"

"Don't be too angry about Donglin's matter."

"I think they were released by the Emperor to deliberately provoke us."

The article mentions the "Ode to Ming Lake" that has been circulating in the capital recently, which some people use to satirize officials.

Yang Jingchen was somewhat amused and exasperated upon hearing this statement.

He certainly didn't want to be seen as a toad, but the emperor's sarcasm did have some merit.

Leaving aside the Donglin Party, after the emperor explicitly denied the existence of the eunuch faction and refused to punish them as members of the eunuch faction, they began to relax and ease their relationship with the Donglin Party.

This was, of course, unacceptable to the emperor, so he released the young members of the Donglin Party, especially the descendants of the Six Gentlemen and the Seven Gentlemen, to fiercely criticize them.

They have no choice but to fight back against Han Kuang and his group, demonstrate their strength in the court, and reassure the emperor.

As for how to fight, Yang Jingchen, who had just recovered from his illness, was too lazy to think about it and directly asked the emperor for advice.

As the head of the supervisory committee, he knew that what the emperor needed now were officials to carry out his duties; no matter how much he thought about it, it was better to ask the emperor directly. (End of Chapter)