The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 492 Queen Wang Deserves Death

Although the capital city has entered the height of summer in July, Nurgandusi is still cool and pleasant.

The cool breeze blew by, and I didn't feel hot even when I was digging the soil with a hoe.

The millions of garrison troops were full of enthusiasm and worked very hard.

Because they can eat enough food if they work hard, not only they can eat enough, but their families can also eat enough.

The food here is really good. Fish is available every day, and beef and mutton are served every few days.

His Majesty not only provided them with food, but also gave them new clothes. Each soldier in the garrison received four sets of military uniforms, and each man, woman, young and old received two sets of casual clothes.

This is their dream, just to have enough food and clothing.

They never thought that they would be able to live the good life of their dreams before they even started planting the land here.

More importantly, building the canal is also for their own good.

The reason why His Majesty built the canal was to be able to transport the grain they grew and sell it for money in the future.

Their lives will definitely get better and better once they have money, so they will naturally work hard to dig.

The Songliao Grand Canal was finally completed thanks to the hard work of millions of garrison troops.

In mid-July, the section from Qingyunyi to Zhaosu Taizi River was finally completed.

Although this section is only a few dozen miles long, it is of great significance.

Because the canal is open, it means that the 800-ton centipede boat can go directly from the main trunk of the Liaohe River to the middle section of the Zhaosu Taizi River.

It turns out that the 800-ton centipede boat cannot come here because the river channel is too narrow, less than ten feet wide and less than ten feet deep. Even a 400-ton octopus boat would have to be careful of running aground if it was fully loaded.

Another point is that the natural river channel is not straight, but twisted like a pretzel. As a result, the voyage of the natural channel for the same distance will be one or two times longer than that of the canal.

It turns out that if the 400-ton octopus boat is not fully loaded and rowed upstream day and night, it will take at least one day to get here. If it needs to rest at night, it will take two days to get here.

It’s different now. It only takes half a day for a fully loaded centipede boat of 800 tons to row here.

In other words, after this section of the Grand Canal is completed, the transportation of materials in the dozens of miles to the south and even in the entire Zhaosu Taizi River basin will not require too much manpower and time.

More importantly, after this section of the canal is completed, the hundreds of thousands of garrison troops working here can do other work.

They could go to the northern sections of the canal to help, or they could return to their own garrisons and build their own houses together with the Liaodong Regional Military Commission's garrison.

As for what to do specifically, it is up to Wanli to decide.

At this moment, Wanli was still at Zhaozhou Posthouse, the terminus of the Grand Canal.

It’s not that he is too lazy to run, it’s just that it’s too troublesome for him to run.

After all, he is the emperor and cannot run around in this border area. No matter where he goes, he must be accompanied by at least hundreds of thousands of cavalry for protection.

If he went there, not only would hundreds of thousands of cavalrymen have to go with him, but moving the camp would also be a hassle.

Therefore, he asked the Minister of Works Zeng Tongheng to preside over the ceremony of opening the first section of the canal.

It would be convenient for Zeng Tongheng to go there. He only had a thousand light cavalry, which was not considered a large-scale military operation.

Moreover, they were all light summer tents, which were not as troublesome to set up as the large tent he used.

The opening of the first section of the canal to navigation was a great event. Zeng Tongheng went there with great joy, but then ran back in a hurry.

Because he could not make the decision on the arrangements for hundreds of thousands of garrison troops, and there was not much to do after the first section of the canal was opened to navigation, so he could just leave an official from the Ministry of Works to handle the subsequent matters. He had to come back quickly to preside over the construction of the last and most complicated section of the canal.

At noon on July 19th, smoke began to rise from the densely packed tents near Zhaozhou Posthouse.

In the center of the large tent, the emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, was standing next to a pile of charcoal and dancing.

Li Xuancheng was skillfully threading fish and brushing them with seasonings in front of the charcoal fire, while Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan was flipping the grilled fish that had already been grilled to golden brown on the grill.

The emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, was in the period of growth. At this moment, he was thinking about eating. He wanted to eat anything that was delicious.

Seeing that the grilled fish was almost done, he immediately said impatiently, "Mom, can we eat it now?"

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan shook her head slightly and said lovingly, "Xi'er, don't be impatient. Roast it a little longer so that the small thorns inside are crispy and won't get stuck in your throat. You eat so fast, remember to chew it a few more times."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Changxu nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, I'll remember it."

Wanli walked out of the big tent following the fragrance, and when he saw this warm scene, he couldn't help but smile.

At this time, the sound of rumbling horse hooves suddenly came from the south.

Not long after, Zeng Tongheng, the Minister of Works, came hurriedly over, clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets His Majesty, the Imperial Noble Consort, and His Royal Highness the Northern Prince."

Why did you come back so soon?
Wanli was quite surprised and asked, "Yu Ye, you rushed back in such a hurry, what happened over there?"

There's something going on over there and there's something going on over here, so naturally I have to get back quickly.

Zeng Tongheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, now that the first section of the canal is open to navigation, the hundreds of thousands of garrison troops there will have nothing to do.

I think that since the Grand Canal has not been completed yet and their houses have not been built yet, it would be better to give them some work to do. After all, they have nearly half a year of rest in the winter.

Your Majesty, what do you think? Should we let them continue to work hard?"

It is indeed not suitable for the garrison soldiers to rest at this time.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Well, let them continue to work hard." What work will they do next?

This is up to you to decide. I dare not make the decision on my own.

Zeng Tongheng asked carefully, "Your Majesty, should we let them help build the canal, or should we let them go back and build their own houses?"

We can't make random arrangements for so many people.

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "At the current pace, will the Grand Canal be completed before October? Is that a problem?"

This shouldn't be a big problem, as the first section has been opened to navigation ahead of schedule.

Zeng Tongheng nodded repeatedly and said, "No problem."

Then there would be no need to add manpower to build the Grand Canal.

Upon hearing this, Wanli said decisively: "Then let them go back and build their own houses. It starts to get cold here in October, and the sooner the warm houses are completed, the better.

Let's do the same after the next sections are completed. Also, after the garrison troops responsible for building the first section of the canal finish their own houses, we'll have young and strong men assigned to help build houses for the garrison troops in the next sections. We'll try to complete the construction of all the garrison houses before October."

Zeng Tongheng bowed repeatedly and said, "I understand."

At this time, the first batch of grilled fish seemed to be almost done.

Seeing this, Wanli simply waved and said, "Yu Ye, it's time for dinner. You haven't eaten anything after running all the way here, right? Come and try some grilled fish together."

After saying that, he picked up one and stuffed it in, then picked out a smaller one for himself and savored it carefully.

Upon seeing this, the emperor's second son, Zhu Changxu, quickly grabbed one with each hand, and began to eat it ravenously.

Uh, His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Northern King are just standing outside eating!
Zeng Tongheng was stunned when he saw this.

Wanli nodded repeatedly and said, "Well, this grilled fish is getting more and more delicious. Uncle, your cooking skills are really amazing. Yuye, don't be polite, try it quickly."

Upon hearing this, Zeng Tongheng quickly took a bite.

This grilled fish tastes amazing!

He had never thought that grilled fish could be so delicious.

Everyone was eating grilled fish and chatting when they heard the sound of horse hooves from the south.

This time it seemed like he was galloping alone.

When Wanli heard the sound of horse hooves, a solemn look appeared on his face.

This lone rider galloping at full speed usually comes to deliver a message, and the sound of horse hooves is approaching rapidly and has not stopped, which proves that it is an urgent message of 800 miles, and it is an extremely urgent one.

In other words, someone had an urgent message for him.

The important memorials he reviewed every day were never delivered so urgently. It must be no small matter to send him the message so urgently.

What on earth went wrong?

Soon, a postman with three small flags with the word "urgent" on his back came hurriedly, knelt on one knee, held up an envelope and said urgently: "Report, Your Majesty, an urgent message from the capital, 800 miles away."

what?
Something happened in the capital!
When Wanli took the envelope and opened it, his face changed.

This letter was actually sent by Queen Wang!

The letter contained only one sentence: "I, your concubine, deserve death. Please return to the palace and punish me, Your Majesty."

What happened in the end?

Queen Wang actually said that she deserved to die!

What could make a queen feel that she deserves death?

Could it be that something happened to the emperor's legitimate son Zhu Changxun?

Zhu Changxu saw his expression change and couldn't help but come over and ask curiously, "Father, what's wrong?"

It’s better for you not to know.

Wanli folded the letter and stuffed it into his arms, then said solemnly: "Yu Ye, the Grand Canal is now in your hands. It must be completed before October this year."

what?
This means you want to leave!

Zeng Tongheng quickly put down the grilled fish, bowed and said, "I obey your command."

Wanli nodded slightly, then said loudly, "General Shan, send someone to convey my oral instructions immediately. I have important matters to return to the capital. I order Bang Ping to lead 40,000 cavalrymen from the Shenwu Battalion to stay behind to protect the Imperial Concubine and her child. I order the entire Shenshu Battalion to remain and await the orders of the Northern King. I also order Yuan Jing and Yuan De to come quickly to assist the Northern King."

What happened in the end?

Upon hearing this, Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan couldn't help but glance at her precious son with reluctance. She then stood up and said, "Your Majesty, how about I accompany you back?"

You'd better not go back.

Wanli slowly shook his head and said, "Xu'er is still a child and needs your care. You should stay and take care of her."

What's going on?
Upon hearing this, Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan's expression changed slightly.

She vaguely felt that what happened this time was related to her!

(End of this chapter)