The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 202 New changes

An extra large round table was set up in the lobby of the Yingtian Prefecture Yamen, and around it sat a group of men in coarse cloth and brown robes. They did not look like the kind of people who should be sitting there.

They are all the bosses, big men, gang leaders and big brothers of the gangs, associations and industries of workers in various industries.

On both sides of the government hall, there were many people wearing similar clothes standing sparsely, all of whom were working for various gangs.

The people who were supposed to be inside the yamen, including several low-level officials, clerks, and runners, were pinned down by a group of people in short coats.

These people are still howling intermittently:
"The prefect really went to the palace, he's really not here——"

"We really didn't lie to you. You searched everywhere, and the palace guards also told you..."

At this time, several people ran into the government office. The leader bowed to the bosses in the hall and reported:
"Boss, we have asked all the government offices. The commander of the Imperial Guard and the governors of all the governor's offices were called into the palace by the old emperor yesterday and have not come out since."

The group of people sitting around the big round table listened, some were excited, some were confused and curious, and some were a little worried, and then they immediately started making noise.

"We are so lucky. The officials were not here. We took down the government offices in one fell swoop and released all the brothers."

"What good luck! How serious a crime have you committed? It's not unfair to call you a rebel now!"

"We originally just wanted the prefect to come out and ask the government to release our brothers. We also wanted the government to increase our wages. We didn't come here to rebel."

"Brothers, you don't think the prefect is deliberately not coming out. He has been hiding on purpose in the past. Brothers think we are deceiving people again, so the higher-ups took action."

"It's too late to say anything now, let's think about what to do in the future——"

"What else can we do? We must go all out and capture the Forbidden City and the old emperor. Then we brothers can sit in the Golden Throne Hall."

“You and the others want to die, but our brothers don’t!

"What's the point of you taking over the government office of Yingtian Prefecture? What's the point of taking over the Forbidden City? If the imperial army comes, we will all die!"

"So what if you're rebelling? Killing people and setting fires will be punished by imperial decree!"

"This is Yingtianfu City, not some deep mountain or old forest. Where are you going to wait for the imperial edict?"

"Hurry up and steal some gold and silver from the homes of the wealthy owners, and then escape to the mountains."

"We don't have to run. We can use the weapons stored in the city to organize our own army."

"What are you organizing? Can you fight a war? Do you know how to deploy troops?"

"We still have to capture the Forbidden City, control the emperor and the high officials of the court, and then learn from Cao Cao to use the emperor to control the princes."

"It would be fine if you were a king or a general, but you are just a porter. Who would listen to you? Do you know how to give orders?"

"The foreign princes, like the King of Wu who just defeated the Qing, may wish that we would kill the emperor directly so that they can directly enter Beijing and destroy us and succeed to the throne as emperor."

"I heard that the King of Wu is quite generous. In the past, workers in Wu had a basic salary of at least three silver dollars a month, and the actual salary was usually more than five silver dollars. If we worked in the King of Wu's factory, we wouldn't have to take these risks now."

"What's the point of saying this? This isn't the fief of the King of Wu."

A group of gang leaders who got together temporarily accidentally created a huge formation and accidentally controlled the situation in Yingtianfu City. Now they were in chaos.

Although they controlled the central government offices, Yingtianfu Office and Jinyiwei Office, the most important offices of the Ming Dynasty, no one knew what to do next.

They originally thought that the prefect of Yingtian was deliberately avoiding them, so some impulsive young gang members decided to give it a try, and they succeeded.

After occupying the Yingtian Prefecture Yamen, these gang members suddenly became excited, and the situation suddenly got a little out of control. Various gangs began to attack other Yamen, and as a result, they quickly achieved significant results.

They did not have any complete preparations and plans before this, and the situation that seems to be going very smoothly now is largely due to unexpected factors.

The key point is that they were brought together temporarily, and they may have conflicts with each other at ordinary times, but they had to cooperate in order to fight against their boss and the court.

In the past, most of the civil uprisings on the land of Shenzhou were peasant uprisings, and a small number were miners' riots.

Now the first large-scale urban workers' riot broke out in Yingtian Prefecture.

The workers had no experience, mature leaders or action programs, so they were blind and confused.

At the same time, Ming Dynasty is not Europe. The city is not an isolated jurisdiction, but is integrated with the surrounding agricultural areas, and the entire country is an integrated whole.

The workers themselves knew that simply controlling a city was useless.

The troops from other parts of the Ming Dynasty came to Beijing to defend the emperor, but they had no experience in frontal battlefields and were unable to resist.

They knew that they had no way of controlling the city alone, and they had no intention of establishing an autonomous organization in the city. Instead, they instinctively wanted to run away and rule the city.

However, in this chaotic situation, they are also summarizing and referring to past experiences, observing and analyzing the differences between the current situation and the past. They need to continue to grow, accumulate experience and lessons, and slowly form a theory of action.
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After Fei Chun left Yingtian Prefecture, he took the token given by the emperor and went directly to the Royal Shipping Company, asking them to send a ship to take him to Shuntian Prefecture immediately.

Fei Chun drifted on the sea for four days, and after arriving in Tianjin, he immediately took a train to Shuntian Prefecture.

Since Zhu Jianxuan landed in Tianjin in March, he began to build the proposed railway from Tianjin to Shuntian Prefecture, which was officially completed by the end of the year.

As soon as Fei Chun returned to Shuntian Prefecture, he went to pay a visit to Zhu Jianxuan. Zhu Jianxuan did not expect Fei Chun to come back so soon, so he immediately asked him to come and see him.

After Fei Chun bowed, he immediately handed over the imperial edict he had brought back.

At the same time, he used the most accurate words possible to describe the situation in Yingtian Prefecture and the old emperor's demands.

Zhu Jianxuan read the imperial edict and listened to Fei Chun's introduction. He was a little stunned:

"You want me to lead the troops south to defend the emperor? Because the officials of the imperial court collectively disobeyed the emperor?"

Fei Chun immediately explained:
"It seems so, but His Majesty is very determined and believes that the current situation is extremely dangerous, so he requires the King to rush over as soon as possible."

Zhu Jianxuan frowned as he looked at the imperial edict written by his father, analyzing the possible mentality of the officials in Yingtian Prefecture:
“Maybe I am indeed naive…”

Zhu Jianxuan suddenly realized that no matter how great the advantage his side had, even if he did not give the opponent any chance to attack, or even had no chance to make contact at all.

But when existing and established future interests may be destroyed, no one should give up struggling for no reason.

In order to make them completely defeated and resign themselves to their fate, he had to deal them a fatal blow.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhu Jianxuan gave an order to arrange a main division to assemble in Tianjin as quickly as possible.

Then, a main division and three auxiliary divisions formed in the northern Zhili area were arranged to continue to concentrate on Tianjin Port and prepare for departure.

Although Zhu Jianxuan felt a little regretful, he did not delay any further. He immediately set off with Fei Chun and Cao Zhendong and took the Shuntianfu train to Tianjin.

While waiting for the scheduled assembly of a division for three days, Zhu Jianxuan met the guards arranged by the old emperor to seek help in Tianjin.

After the guards confirmed Zhu Jianxuan's identity, they immediately presented the old emperor's handwritten letter and order note:

"Yingtian Prefecture is in turmoil. It is extremely dangerous. Order the King of Wu to send troops south immediately to defend the king!"

There is also a private letter that briefly explains the situation in Tianfu.

When Zhu Jianxuan saw the order and what the old emperor wrote in the letter, he was immediately frightened by the situation in Yingtian Prefecture and the old emperor's actions.

The old emperor just suspected that the civil and military officials intended to support the prince and oppose him, and might continue to fight a civil war with him in the future.

Then the old emperor actually launched a coup d'état, and at the same time decided to formally change the crown prince and make himself, the King of Wu, the crown prince.

But an accident also happened at the same time. Just as the old emperor had taken control of the situation, a civil uprising broke out.

The key point is that the old emperor could not judge whether this civil uprising was related to his own coup.

So he didn't dare let other bureaucrats handle it, and could only summon himself to Beijing immediately.

Zhu Jianxuan was not afraid that the bureaucratic group would go against the emperor, nor was he too worried about whether his employers would cause trouble.

As for the problems of capital and traditional bureaucracy, I have plenty of experience to deal with them.

What Zhu Jianxuan was most worried about was a riot among urban workers.

Once a city workers' riot like the one in Yingtianfu breaks out, it will be difficult to end on its own and the impact will certainly be very bad.

The damage must have been innumerable.

The key point is, if it becomes the fuse of the Ming Revolution, it will be a real trouble and must be controlled as soon as possible.

Control, or compromise, for the opposing group of workers, the sooner the compromise is made, the lower the cost.

Zhu Jianxuan no longer dared to be negligent or hesitant. As soon as the first main division gathered in Tianjin, he immediately took them south by boat.

The subsequent main division and three auxiliary divisions will sail to Nanjing one after another after gathering.

Zhu Jianxuan drifted on the sea for four days and finally arrived at the mouth of the Yangtze River before the New Year.

I couldn’t fall asleep after waking up in the morning, and I felt inexplicably sleepy at night. I wrote more than two thousand words and I can hardly keep my eyes open. I’ll just post these today and I’ll go to bed first.

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(End of this chapter)