Bringing the Railway to Daming

Coming to his senses, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "Do you know why Emperor Chongzhen ultimately did not move the capital to Nanjing and abandon the north?"

Liu Kuan was not surprised when Zhu Yuanzhang pressed him on this matter. He said, "I believe there are three main reasons."

"Firstly, and most importantly, Chongzhen did not expect the Shun army to reach the gates of Beijing so quickly—Li Zicheng proclaimed himself emperor in Xi'an on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and only sent troops out of Shaanxi on the second day of the second lunar month. He then advanced with unstoppable momentum and reached the gates of Beijing on the seventeenth day of the third lunar month."

"It can be said that neither Emperor Chongzhen nor his court officials expected the Shun army to arrive so quickly. As for why it was so fast, it was because, apart from a handful of Ming troops who fought desperately to resist the enemy, most of the Ming troops surrendered directly to the Shun army."

"Even the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet and the eunuchs who were sent out to supervise the army surrendered to the Shun army and even helped Li Zicheng to persuade Chongzhen to surrender."

Although Liu Kuan did not explain the details, Zhu Yuanzhang only frowned slightly upon hearing it, and did not find it surprising.

When a dynasty reaches its end, it is indeed easy for it to suffer a collapse-style military defeat, and there are instances where entire armies surrender to the enemy—there are some such examples when the Ming Dynasty launched its northern expedition against the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.

Why do dynasties throughout history always praise those who are loyal and devoted to their dynasties? Because such people are too few, and such virtues are too rare.

Even those who have received imperial favor for generations will choose to surrender to the new dynasty when the trend of dynastic change becomes clear, such as Duke Cheng, Zhu Chunchen.

Liu Kuan continued, "For more than a month, the emperor and his ministers of the Chongzhen era spent most of their time considering how to send troops to resist the Shun army. By the time the Shun army reached Hebei, they had actually missed the best time to move the capital."

"Then came to the second reason: some ministers in the court who came from Jiangnan opposed Chongzhen going to Nanjing, and even opposed Chongzhen sending the crown prince to Nanjing, out of consideration for their own interests."

"Of course, they wouldn't say that doing so would harm their own interests, but rather they would use the greater good to influence Chongzhen's decision."

"For example, there was a saying in the Ming Dynasty that 'the emperor guards the country's gate.' When Esen led the Oirat army to attack Beijing, the emperor and his ministers almost moved the capital. However, Yu Qian insisted on not moving the capital and was determined to defend it to the death. He withstood the Oirat attack and waited for the reinforcements to come to the aid of the emperor, which turned the crisis into safety for the Ming Dynasty."

"If Emperor Chongzhen hadn't even resisted the Shun army, and instead led his entire court to abandon Beijing and flee to Nanjing, who dares to say that it wouldn't have been tantamount to handing over the north to the Shun army? Who would take the blame for that?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di was slightly puzzled.

He asked, "My brother-in-law said that some officials from Jiangnan were unwilling for Emperor Chongzhen to move the capital to Nanjing. Why is that?"

Before Liu Kuan could answer, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Fourth brother, you've been establishing your own vassal state for years, yet you still haven't grasped the true purpose of a capital city?"

"Why did we choose to establish our capital in Nanjing and expand the territory of Zhili so extensively, encompassing almost the entire Jiangnan region?"

"Because wherever the capital is, the court has the strongest control over that area. Conversely, if the court has a strong control over a place, the local landlords and gentry have to be much more obedient. They not only can't bully the good and break the law, but they also have to obediently hand over all kinds of taxes."

"In the original history, your decision to abandon the capital and move it to Beiping was certainly motivated by considerations of defending against the nomadic tribes of the grasslands and promoting the prosperity of the north, but it also meant that you were weakening your control over the south."

"If the capital were still in Nanjing, controlling the fertile lands of Jiangnan, the imperial treasury would never have been so bad that Emperor Chongzhen would have needed to borrow money from his officials!"

"Hmph, I just don't know if moving the capital to Beiping was your own idea or if you were fooled by some ministers from Jiangnan."

Upon hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Zhu Di first realized the truth, then realized that he might have been misled when he moved the capital to Beiping in the original history, and he couldn't help but feel ashamed.

But he couldn't help but stubbornly say, "Father, I may not necessarily be being misled—perhaps moving the capital to Beiping at that time would have been more beneficial?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "What, you still want to move the capital to Beiping?"

This inexplicable remark startled Zhu Di, who then shuddered and hurriedly knelt down, crying out, "Your subject dares not! Your subject is innocent!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Alright, get up. You are now the ruler of a country. Why are you so frightened that you kneel down just because of one sentence from me? Liu Kuan, please continue."

Liu Kuan, who was standing nearby, saw clearly that Zhu Yuanzhang's seemingly casual remark was actually an attempt to give Zhu Di a warning—after all, among the various overseas tribes, Zhu Di was the closest to the territory directly under the Ming Dynasty's control.

However, he would never get involved in such a matter.

Upon hearing this, he continued, "The third reason why Chongzhen failed to move the capital in time is actually related to the second reason, which is a major flaw in Chongzhen's character that later generations summarized as a lack of responsibility."

"In his previous battles against peasant armies and the Later Jin, he always liked to shift the blame to the ministers in charge and shirk his own responsibility."

“When he first employs someone, he often doesn’t investigate them thoroughly and gives them excessive trust. But once the task assigned to him is not progressing as well as expected, his trust in that minister immediately drops sharply. If the minister fails in the end, he may even punish him in a retaliatory manner without asking any questions or considering any of the minister’s past achievements.”

“There are several typical examples here. For instance, at the beginning of Chongzhen’s reign, Yuan Chonghuan, in order to obtain the position of commander-in-chief, promised him, ‘If Your Majesty grants me the authority, the Eastern Barbarians can be pacified and the entire Liaodong Peninsula can be recovered within five years.’”

"Emperor Chongzhen trusted Yuan Chonghuan despite his lack of understanding of Yuan Chonghuan and the Liaodong affairs, and thus granted Yuan Chonghuan a great deal of power."

"However, in the second year of Chongzhen's reign, he punished Yuan Chonghuan and sentenced him to death by slow slicing because the Qing invaders had reached the gates of Beijing."

"Although Yuan Chonghuan did make mistakes in the Liaodong affairs, such as privately killing Mao Wenlong; and Huang Taiji also used a counter-espionage scheme to make Chongzhen mistakenly believe that Yuan Chonghuan had rebellious intentions."

"However, Chongzhen's decision to execute Yuan Chonghuan still chilled the hearts of many ministers—before Yuan Chonghuan, Xiong Tingbi, who was in charge of Liaodong, had been beheaded and his head sent to the nine border regions due to military defeat and factional strife."

"Furthermore, Emperor Chongzhen treated civil officials such as Lu Xiangshan and Sun Chuanting, who were governors and military commanders, in a similar manner—if the war was lost, they would be dismissed from their posts and imprisoned, or even beheaded."

"Even in the later stages, Yang Sichang, as the commander-in-chief, was so frightened by the complete failure of the strategy to suppress the peasant army and the thought of the possible consequences that came with it that he died of fright."

"He treated military generals who fought valiantly and lost their troops as worthless, even punishing them; but he was lenient towards those who fled in battle and preserved their troops, initially only giving them light punishments, and eventually not only refraining from punishment but also promoting them." "Such personnel management gradually made the entire court see through his lack of responsibility, his cowardice and bullying of the weak, and his tendency to favor those he needed and discard those he didn't."

"Therefore, those court officials who intended to obstruct the relocation of the capital could easily exploit their personalities to delay the relocation."

Liu Kuan paused at this point.

Because there were so many things about Emperor Chongzhen, he was afraid that he would inevitably bring up more incidents, and then he would never be able to finish talking about them.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Di looked at each other in bewilderment—only then did they realize how detrimental Chongzhen's character flaws were to his governance.

Considering how Emperor Chongzhen used his civil and military officials, it's likely that even if they were under his command, they wouldn't be willing to serve the court anymore.

From this perspective, the fact that the Ming Dynasty could still last for seventeen years despite Chongzhen's use of talent shows that the dynasty had a solid foundation.

After regaining his senses, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "That's all?"

Liu Kuan said helplessly, "Your Majesty, as I said, there are too many things that happened during the Chongzhen era. If I were to go through them all in detail, it would take several days and nights to finish."

"Moreover, those matters are of no reference value to you, His Highness the Crown Prince, and His Highness the Prince of Yan, so there is really no need to go into detail about them."

At this moment, Zhu Biao also reminded him, "Father, the bell rang earlier to signal the time; it's time for lunch."

Zhu Yuanzhang found that after listening to Liu Kuan talk about the Taichang, Tianqi, and Chongzhen reigns all morning, including Liu Kuan's mockery and criticism of Zhu Di, his mood inexplicably improved.

I really wanted to hear Liu Kuan talk more about the late Ming Dynasty—the kind of talk where Zhu Di could listen together.

He then said, "Liu Kuan, we'll grant you a day off. Could you talk a little more?"

Liu Kuan was utterly speechless.

Seeing the expectant look on Zhu's face, he suddenly had an idea and said, "Your Majesty, how about this? I have a movie about the Chongzhen era. Because it involves the Jingnan Rebellion, it is not appropriate to show it to others. Why don't we show it to Your Majesty while His Highness Prince Yan is here?"

"As for other matters during the Chongzhen era, I will not go into details."

Upon hearing that there was a movie to watch, set in the late Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately became interested and said, "Alright—Biao'er, arrange for a reliable person to go to Liu's residence to fetch the tablet computer. Also, tell Huilan that Liu Kuan will be having lunch with us in the palace at noon."

"Yes!"

Zhu Biao immediately made the arrangements.

He was also quite looking forward to watching a movie set in the late Ming Dynasty.

Only Zhu Di was both expectant and apprehensive—he worried that he would be scolded or even beaten while watching the movie.

Liu Kuan felt very hungry at this moment, so he said, "Your Majesty, why don't we eat first, and then watch the movie?"

The round trip from Fengxian Hall to Liu's residence would take a considerable amount of time, and if the escort of the tablet required extra caution, it would take even longer.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "Alright."

He then led Zhu Biao, Zhu Di, and Liu Kuan to the Dashan Hall.

The kitchen had already prepared everything, and as soon as the group sat down in the Great Benevolence Hall, various dishes were served one by one.

It wasn't a lavish meal, but the taste was pretty good, and most importantly, it was a good mix of meat and vegetables, providing a balanced diet.

Perhaps because Empress Ma wasn't there, the four men ate in silence and finished their meal in just over fifteen minutes.

At this point, the tablet computer was also delivered.

The tablet was packaged in a locked alloy box with an eight-digit combination lock, ensuring it wouldn't be touched by anyone during transport.

Liu Kuan took out his tablet and quickly found a movie on it.

He then placed the tablet on the prepared table and started playing it via touchscreen.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Di sat in a triangle formation, all staring intently at the screen.

After the opening credits, a descriptive text appeared on the screen against a black background—

"In 1642, two years before the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng led his peasant army to besiege Kaifeng, and the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse."

Then three powerful white characters appeared—"The Great Ming Calamity!" (End of Chapter)