My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 213: Without killing tens of thousands of people, the Ming Dynasty cannot be saved!

Thinking of this, everyone looked at each other first, then bowed again and said:
"Don't worry, Your Highness. We will never let you down!"

Zhu Cilang nodded and then said:
"Go!"

Then, the generals thanked him again and turned to leave.

Collecting taxes is considered military merit. Although this sounds a bit strange and has never happened before, there is always a first time for everything!
Zhu Cilang knew clearly that if he wanted these soldiers, who were used to fighting on the battlefield and only cared about their military achievements, to seriously collect taxes, he had to do this!

But of course, he also knew that doing so would definitely cause a lot of trouble.

In order to collect more taxes, the soldiers will definitely have more intense conflicts with the gentry, and even cause many unnecessary deaths.

But
What does it matter?

By this time in the Ming Dynasty, the gentry had become rotten to the core. How could this situation be changed without killing tens of thousands of people?

Especially those gentry in the south, each of them is as rotten as can be. Zhu Cilang will not show mercy when killing these people.

But I definitely can't say this directly, otherwise it would seem too cruel.

But it doesn't matter. As long as Zhu Cilang stipulates that collecting taxes is also considered military merit, and the size of the military merit will be determined based on the amount of taxes collected, then these generals will naturally find a way to make everything reasonable.

Of course, because collecting taxes was too important, Zhu Cilang not only dispatched the Beijing camp this time.

In addition to the Beijing camp, the Ministry of Revenue, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the East Factory, and the West Factory will also participate in the action.

Among them, the Beijing Camp was mainly responsible for confiscating houses and collecting taxes.

The Ministry of Revenue was responsible for recording the confiscated property and silver, and the subsequent measurement of land was also under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue.

The Jinyiwei was responsible for investigating and collecting the specific property and evidence of crimes of the gentry.

The East Factory and the West Factory do not need to participate in tax collection work because they have other tasks, which is to keep an eye on the people in front.

First, to prevent them from harming and harassing ordinary people, and second, to prevent someone from making tricks when collecting taxes.

To put it simply, it is to supervise the Beijing Camp, the Ministry of Revenue and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Of course, the East Factory and the West Factory also need to supervise each other.

In this way, the various departments will supervise and cooperate with each other, and Zhu Cilang believes that all the taxes that should be collected can be collected.

Not long after, 50,000 soldiers from the Beijing camp, as well as people from the Ministry of Revenue, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the East Factory, and the West Factory, were divided into more than a dozen teams and then set out towards the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

If the people from the Ministry of Revenue, Embroidered Uniform Guard, East Factory and West Factory are included, the number of people sent out this time is as many as 60,000!

Although it seems like a lot, if it is distributed to different places, there won’t be enough manpower.

Moreover, although the main purpose this time was to collect taxes from the gentry in the south, taxes also had to be collected from the gentry in the north, so several teams were also going to the north.

But considering that there is a war going on in Henan and Shaanxi, we will not collect taxes this time.

After Li Zicheng is eliminated and the situation stabilizes, we will collect the outstanding taxes.

After watching the large army leave, Zhu Cilang then left the Beijing camp.

However, he did not rush back, but went to check out several camps and cities under construction.

That is, the Jingying Military Camp, Guanning Iron Cavalry Military Camp and two cities that were specially ordered to be built by the victims.

At this time, the construction site outside the city was still a busy scene, with people talking and the sounds of workmen coming one after another.

It has to be said that the scale of these projects is really huge. Even though almost two months have passed, the project has not been fully completed, and there are still many victims and craftsmen who are busy working.

They were either carrying bricks or building wooden frames. Under the sunshine, everyone was working hard for their lives and tasks.

Zhu Cilang took a quick look and then went to the camp where the Guanning Iron Cavalry was stationed to visit the Guanning Iron Cavalry.

In fact, the Guanning Iron Cavalry only returned to Beijing five days earlier than Zhu Cilang!

After seeing Zhu Cilang, Cao Bianjiao hurriedly knelt down with a group of generals to pay their respects:
"Your servant Cao Bianjiao pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"I am waiting to see His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhu Cilang smiled and helped them up, then praised:
"Generals, you are welcome. You all played an indispensable role in the great victory in the Liaodong Campaign."

"If you hadn't held back the Jiannu's 30,000 troops, the Liaodong battle wouldn't have been won so easily!"

"You all made great contributions in this battle!"

When Cao Bianjiao and others heard this, their faces immediately turned red.

To be honest, although they carried out a sweep of the rear of the Jiannu, they did not actually fight with the 30,000 elite Jiannu troops who came back to support them.

They felt a little embarrassed when the prince praised them so much.

Moreover, they had heard that the reason why the Battle of Liaodong was such a great victory was entirely because the prince led the soldiers to charge together and directly broke through the Jiannu formation.

This is how we achieved the final victory.

In addition, all of this was planned by the Crown Prince, so if we talk about credit, who can compare with the Crown Prince?
Then, Cao Bianjiao suddenly seemed to have thought of something, and hurriedly asked cautiously:
"May I ask, Your Highness, what is His Majesty's current condition?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the other generals changed. It was obvious that they all knew about the previous assassination attempt on Chongzhen.

But think about it, this incident happened two days ago, how could the Guanning Iron Cavalry not know about it?

Facing everyone's concerns, Zhu Cilang replied calmly:
"Don't worry! Your Majesty is fine. Although the arrow was coated with arsenic, it didn't directly penetrate your Majesty's arm, so there is not much poison left in your body."

"The imperial physician said that you will be fully recovered after a few months of rest!"

When Cao Bianjiao and others heard this, they secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But soon, one of the generals could not help but curse:

"This bunch of damned gentry! Tax evasion is one thing, but they actually dared to assassinate His Majesty. This is such a heinous act that their entire clan should be exterminated!"

As soon as he said this, others echoed him!
Moreover, the curses he uttered became more and more unpleasant, even including curses against eighteen generations of ancestors.

It can be seen that this group of soldiers from the North really hated the gentry and officials in the South.

However, Zhu Cilang could fully understand them. After all, before he traveled through time, these generals could not even get their military pay.

The reason for all this, in the final analysis, is the tax evasion by the gentry in the south.

If it were you, could you not hate them?

In the end, Cao Bianjiao saw that their cursing was really too much, so he shouted at them.

"Shut up! How can you be so presumptuous in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

After hearing this, the generals finally quieted down.

Cao Bianjiao then looked at Zhu Cilang and said:

"Your Highness, my subordinates are all rough people, so there are many vulgar words in their words. I hope Your Highness will forgive me!"

Zhu Cilang smiled and waved his hand:
"Although their words are vulgar, they are also correct. It is precisely because of these people's tax evasion that the Ming Dynasty is in financial difficulties."

"There's not even enough money to pay your soldiers, nor to pay the officials, let alone to provide relief to the disaster victims. From this point of view, they all deserve to die!"

"But don't worry, His Majesty has already ordered the collection of their previously owed taxes, and the tax collection team has already set out. This time, they have no choice but to pay!"

When the generals heard this, they were naturally delighted.

At this moment, Zhu Cilang continued:

"I came here today, firstly to visit you, and secondly to read out His Majesty's decree of reward!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the generals, including Cao Bianjiao, were slightly stunned, but soon their expressions turned into ecstasy.

Since the end of the Battle of Songjin, basically all the soldiers who participated have been rewarded, even the Ming Navy and the Fujian Navy, who also received rewards in the form of imperial edicts.

Only the Guanning Iron Cavalry has not been rewarded yet.

In fact, Zhu Cilang had already received the battle report about the Guanning Iron Cavalry, and he also roughly knew the contributions of these generals this time.

The reason why he had not yet given the reward was that he planned to do this personally after returning to the capital.

After all, the Guanning Iron Cavalry is the elite among the elite, so matters such as rewards must naturally be given by Zhu Cilang himself.

The next second, Zhu Cilang looked at Fang Zhenghua standing beside him.

"let's start!"

Fang Zhenghua nodded, then took out the imperial edict from his sleeve.

When they saw this scene, Cao Bianjiao and a group of soldiers knelt down respectfully without any hesitation.

Fang Zhenghua said loudly:

"By the providence of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims: Cao Bianjiao, the General of the ASEAN Alliance, is commendable for his loyalty and bravery. He has made numerous military achievements and demonstrated his loyalty and bravery."

"In recognition of your merits, I have specially appointed Cao Bianjiao as the Earl of Pingdong and awarded him a reward of ten thousand taels of gold. All generals should follow your example and work together to support the country."

"Deputy General Wang Huan was made Viscount, and Lieutenant General Wu Xuanming was made Baron"

"Appreciate this."

After Fang Zhenghua finished reading the imperial edict, Cao Bianjiao and others were all ecstatic.

Because in addition to Cao Bianjiao being conferred the title of Earl, three other people were also conferred titles. Although they were only Viscounts and Barons, these were also official titles of the Ming Dynasty!

The other officials who were not granted titles were promoted by two levels, and also received silver rewards.

Everyone present will receive a reward of at least two thousand taels of silver!
Of course, Zhu Cilang would not forget to reward and give silver to ordinary soldiers. The least was fifty taels of silver!
All in all, every member of the Guanning Iron Cavalry received a reward!
After coming to his senses, Cao Bianjiao hurriedly led all the generals to kneel down and express gratitude.

"I accept the order and thank you!"

At this point, all the soldiers who participated in the Battle of Songjin were rewarded.

And this silver will be delivered in the afternoon.

Afterwards, he chatted with Cao Bianjiao about some other things, and then Zhu Cilang returned to the capital with his group.

As soon as I arrived at the East Palace, before I even entered the door, Ma Bao came up to me and said hurriedly:

"Your Highness, you are finally back! The Director of the Firearms Research Institute, Bi Maokang, and several others, including Song Yingxing, came to the Eastern Palace early this morning and requested to see you."

Ok?
Zhu Cilang was slightly stunned, as if he didn't expect Bi Maokang and the others to come to see him.

But he quickly reacted and asked, "Where are they now?"

Ma Bao hurriedly said:

"I originally wanted the others to go back first and then summon them after the Crown Prince finished his court session, but they refused to leave, so I took them to the side hall."

"They are waiting for you in the side hall now!"

Zhu Cilang found it a little funny to hear this. You don't need to think about it to know that the reason why Bi Maokang and others came to him was definitely because of the assassination attempt on Chongzhen.

When he established the Firearms Research Institute, he stipulated that officials from the institute did not need to attend court.

This means that Bi Maokang and others were not aware of what happened. They might not even know that Chongzhen had attended court yesterday morning.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang hurriedly said:

"Lead the way!"

Soon, Zhu Cilang met Bi Maokang, Song Yingxing and others in the side hall.

At the same time, when Bi Maokang and others saw Zhu Cilang coming in, they immediately stood up and wanted to salute.

But before they could bend down, Zhu Cilang quickly reached out to support them and said:

"You are all old, so there is no need to be so polite. You don't need to kneel when you see me in the future."

Bi Maokang and others hurriedly bowed their hands in thanks:
"Thank you, Your Highness."

But the next second, Bi Maokang asked anxiously:

"Your Highness, may I ask how His Majesty is doing now?"

"What did the imperial physician say?"

Bi Maokang was really worried about Chongzhen's health. Although he did not have to attend court, he was still a minister of the Ming Dynasty. How could he not be anxious when Chongzhen was assassinated?
I have to say, this is the third time someone has asked this question today. To be honest, Zhu Cilang is a little annoyed.

But he still said patiently:

"Please rest assured, my father is fine."

"The imperial physician has already examined him and said he will recover after a period of rest. You don't need to worry too much."

Zhu Cilang kept smiling while speaking, trying his best to comfort everyone.

There was no way. The people in front of him were old, especially Bi Maokang. The old man was almost seventy years old this year. Zhu Cilang was really afraid that he would die if he got too excited.

You know, there are still many things counting on him in the future!

At the same time, when Bi Maokang and others heard this, their tense brows relaxed and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

After everyone's emotions had completely stabilized, Zhu Cilang asked about the recent situation at the Firearms Research Institute.

Bi Maokang naturally answered every question and reported the recent situation to Zhu Cilang in detail.

In general, there have been no problems at the Firearms Research Institute in recent times, and all aspects are progressing in an orderly manner.

The production of flintlock rifles and artillery is also increasing. There are now more than 40,000 flintlock rifles, more than 500 new artillery pieces, and about 100 hot air balloons stored in the warehouse.

There are also countless fixed bullets and telescopes.

When Zhu Cilang heard these words, he was naturally very satisfied.

It has to be said that the quantity of these things far exceeded his expectations.

Suddenly at this moment, Zhu Cilang seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and then instructed Ma Bao beside him:
"Ma Bao, there is a box on my desk. Go and get it."

Ma Bao nodded and ran away quickly.

Bi Maokang and others were somewhat confused, as if they didn't understand why Zhu Cilang suddenly said such a thing when they were chatting happily.
But Zhu Cilang was in no hurry to explain. Instead, he suddenly looked at Song Yingxing beside him and asked:
"Song Yingxing, do you know of any way to squeeze metal into a fixed shape with minimal effort?"

That’s right, what Zhu Cilang was thinking about at this moment was the issue of minting Ming Dynasty gold coins and Ming Dynasty silver coins.

In fact, in this era, there are similar methods of making coins.

First, craftsmen carefully mix high-temperature resistant molten silver with casting sand and clay to make a specific mold.

Then fill the mold with boiling silver liquid and wait for it to cool slowly to obtain a silver cake of the predetermined size.

Finally, the silver cake is placed in a metal mold engraved with relevant patterns, and then hammered hard with a heavy hammer until it is made into a silver coin.

In this way, ancient silver coins were produced!
However, in Zhu Cilang's eyes, this method was too primitive and extremely inefficient.

After all, his goal was to mint all the silver and gold in the world into Ming silver coins and Ming gold coins, and completely unify the monetary system.

If this method is used, even if all the craftsmen in the country are mobilized and they produce 24 hours a day, it may not be able to meet his needs.

So, he wondered if he could ask the Firearms Research Institute to develop a mechanical device and then use this machine to make coins.

To put it more simply, he just wanted the Firearms Research Institute to build a stamping machine.

However, he was not sure whether this thing existed at this time, so he thought of asking Song Yingxing first.

After all, Song Yingxing is a rare master of mechanics.

At the same time, Song Yingxing was also a little confused by Zhu Cilang's questions.

He hesitated for a moment, and did not rush to answer Zhu Cilang's question. Instead, he asked:
"May I ask, Your Highness, what are you planning to do?"

Zhu Cilang was about to answer, but at this moment, Ma Bao suddenly ran in with hurried steps, holding a box steadily in his hand.

"Madam, here's what you asked for."

Ma Bao breathed slightly heavily and handed the box to Zhu Cilang respectfully as he spoke.

Zhu Cilang looked at Ma Bao in front of him and felt a little funny for a moment, because this place was still quite a distance away from the study, and it was obvious that Ma Bao had run all the way here.

But it’s better this way, as it saves him the trouble of explaining to Song Yingxing.

Then, Zhu Cilang opened the box in his hand and took out two things from it.

They were the Ming Dynasty gold coins and Ming Dynasty silver coins that had been minted in Liaodong before.

Zhu Cilang handed it to Song Yingxing and said solemnly:
"This is what I want to do."

Song Yingxing took the two coins with curious hands and moved closer to take a closer look.

But the next second, he seemed to be struck by electricity, his whole body trembled violently, and then his legs softened and he knelt down with a thump.

The sudden scene made Bi Maokang and others on the side look confused. They couldn't understand why Song Yingxing suddenly knelt on the ground?
But at this moment, Zhu Cilang suddenly understood!

Needless to say!
This must be because of the portrait of Chongzhen above.
Sure enough, the next second, Song Yingxing's voice rang out.

"There's a portrait of His Majesty on this."

When he spoke, his voice was distorted by excitement and fear, sounding quite strange to the ears.

Bi Maokang was stunned when he heard it, then he hurried forward to take a closer look.

The next second, his eyes widened and his face was full of disbelief.

Because on the two coins in Song Yingxing's hands, there was Chongzhen's portrait printed.

Immediately afterwards, Bi Maokang was so frightened that his body trembled, a look of horror appeared on his face, and he instinctively wanted to kneel down.

Zhu Cilang saw this and felt even more speechless.

Why did I forget to tell everyone in advance that there was Chongzhen’s portrait on this coin?

But it's too late to talk about this now.

Immediately afterwards, without waiting for Bi Maokang to kneel down, Zhu Cilang stepped forward and stretched out his hand to stop him.

"Everyone, there's no need to kneel! I'll explain the details, but please don't perform such formalities so easily."

After hearing this, the few people came to their senses a little, the tension on their faces gradually faded away, and then they sat back in their original seats tremblingly.

The atmosphere in the side hall became somewhat subtle after these twists and turns, with a hint of tension in the silence.

No one can figure out what is going on.

How come Chongzhen’s portrait suddenly appeared on gold and silver?

Then, Zhu Cilang continued:

"When we were in Liaodong earlier, my father and I discussed and decided to reform the Ming Dynasty's existing currency."

"From now on, the Ming Dynasty will abandon the silver and gold that were previously in circulation and uniformly use these Ming gold coins and Ming silver coins."

"As for why there's Father's portrait on it, it's simply to demonstrate Father's determination!"

"So how to mass-produce these two types of coins has become a pressing problem."

"After all, to cast all the silver in the world into this shape is a huge undertaking, so we must use other methods."

After hearing this, Song Yingxing's mind suddenly became clear. He finally understood Zhu Cilang's intention.

Then, he once again turned his gaze to the Ming silver coins and Ming gold coins in his hands.

After a moment's thought, he spoke:
"Your Highness, do you still remember Wang Zheng, whom I mentioned to you earlier?"

Wang Wei?

When Zhu Cilang heard this name, a light suddenly flashed in his mind, and he really remembered this person.

It is said that Wang Zheng showed a strong interest in ancient instruments and machinery in his early years. Before he entered officialdom, he devoted himself to the research of hydraulic, wind and load-bearing machinery, and also wrote "Illustrated Explanation of New Instruments".

His research achievements in the field of mechanics are even deeper than Song Yingxing's.

More importantly, in some later statements, many people believed that the steam engine was most likely invented by Wang Zheng.

Because in his "Newly Made Instruments Illustrations" there was a passage that said:

"The celestial sphere rotates, the earth's trenches recede, the sundial moves, the lunar compass rotates, the water wheel draws water, the clepsydra rises, the fire ship departs, the fire thunder explodes, the wind wheel turns heavy, the windmill travels far, and the ladder ascends straight up."

These words may seem obscure and difficult to understand at first, but upon closer inspection, you will find that most of them revolve around machinery.

The phrase "the fire ship goes away on its own" is very likely to involve the principle of the steam engine.

If Wang Zheng could really make a steam engine, it would be a revolutionary change for the Ming Dynasty!
(End of this chapter)