Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 32 A Fierce General in Liaodong Rules His Own Region

With the imperial edict, the inner court was officially established.

Zhu Jue didn't even tell the officials in the outer court; he didn't want them to know.

The officials in the inner court didn't care about any of that; they were all busy with their own duties, working diligently and happily.

After cultivating potato seedlings, Xu Guangqi began cultivating sweet potato seedlings.

Wang Zheng's steam engine prototype was taking shape.

Bi Maokang also began organizing craftsmen to forge flintlock guns and armored chariots.

Song Yingxing also began building a furnace for firing glass.

Bi Maoliang also led a group of merchants who might become imperial relatives to take over the inner court's business.

Song Yingsheng then prepared to mine raw materials for glassmaking and steelmaking.

Of the six ministries in the inner court, the Ministry of Resources seemed to have the heaviest workload at the beginning, because the demand for raw materials for glassmaking and steelmaking was enormous. Not only did they have to organize a large number of people to mine them, but they also had to organize transportation.

Nowadays, the Ministry of Internal Resources has hardly any transportation vehicles, and hardly any people at all.

The next morning around 7 a.m., Song Yingsheng went to Yuxi Palace to find Zhu Jue.

Yuxi Palace is the palace complex at the head of Yudai Bridge. Although it is called a palace complex, it actually consists of a main hall in the middle, a side hall behind it, and a surrounding building.

This place was the royal family's summer retreat. After the Wanshou Palace burned down during the Jiajing reign, Emperor Jiajing practiced meditation there for a period of time.

Even Emperor Jiajing found the place too small and was quite uncomfortable.

Zhu Jue, however, did not mind that the place was too small.

He originally worked in the enclosed building next to the unfinished factory only as a temporary measure.

Now that the inner court has been formally established, he, as the emperor, can no longer simply stay indoors and work as he pleases.

He immediately ordered people to decorate the main hall of Yuxi Palace and then moved there to work.

The main hall is over 100 square meters, much larger than the imperial study, and could easily fit two rows of desks inside.

He then ordered people to put two rows of desks together in the middle to form a huge long table, with two rows of bookshelves on both sides.

He was reviewing memorials at one end of the long table when Song Yingsheng strode in, bowed, and said, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

This was also a new rule he established, allowing officials of the inner court to have direct audiences, just like Fang Zhenghua, without needing to be summoned.

Furthermore, when he inspected the inner palace factories without wearing the dragon robe, no one he met needed to stop and bow to him, so as not to affect his work.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, put down the memorial in his hand, and then asked, "Yuan Jiu, what's wrong?"

Song Yingsheng cautiously said, "Your Majesty, the production of glass and the smelting of steel require a large amount of coal, and the demand for feldspar, quartz, clay, iron ore, and other materials is also very high."

Your humble servant has investigated and found that since the Wanli Emperor's mining supervisors began plundering everywhere, most of the mineral deposits have been abandoned because no one dared to take them over. Nowadays, only a small coal mine in Wanping is still being mined near the capital. Other minerals such as feldspar, quartz, clay, and iron ore are no longer being mined near the capital.

"If it's just for trial production, I can manage to find some. But if we're going to start formal production, I'm afraid I simply won't be able to supply enough raw materials."

Yes, that's a really big problem.

During the Wanli reign, mining supervisors were extorting land everywhere, causing a precipitous drop in mining activity throughout the Ming Dynasty. Most of the mines have been abandoned. He had heard about this.

Zhu Jue nodded slowly, then asked, "Where are the main mineral deposits needed for glassmaking and iron smelting located?"

That can still be found. Song Yingsheng explained in detail: "Your Majesty, feldspar mines are mainly located in Sichuan and Hubei, quartz mines are mainly located in Hubei and Southern Zhili, and the best clay comes from Jiangxi."

As for iron and coal mines, there are many coal and iron mines near Zunhua, along the banks of the Yunliang River and the Luan River. The largest ironworks of the imperial court was originally the Zunhua Ironworks.

Unfortunately, the mining supervisors during the Wanli era were too greedy. Mining coal and iron ore not only failed to generate profit but also resulted in losses for the supervisors. Consequently, no one wanted to lease the coal and iron mines there, and the Zunhua Ironworks ceased production due to a lack of raw materials.

Feldspar, quartz, and clay were concentrated in the areas of Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Southern Zhili, all along the Yangtze River, and could only be transported to the capital by boat.

Iron and coal mines were also located on both banks of the Yunliang River and the Luan River, so boats were also needed.

Even if the steamship prototype is built without any problems, a shipyard still needs to be built before mass production can begin. It would be quite good if a batch could be built next year.

The warships and grain transport ships of Jizhou Town and Liaodong Town have all been transferred to transport grain, so it seems that only canage ships can be mobilized for emergency use.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, and then decisively said: "You select some honest and reliable palace maids and their families and send them to various mines to recruit people to mine. Don't worry about mining taxes for now. We will mine for our own use and do not need to pay any mining taxes."

You calculate how much money it will cost to hire people to open these mines, then make a list for Ruoyu, and I will have the Imperial Treasury allocate the funds to you.

As for the shipping issue, it just so happens that Cui Wensheng, the governor-general in charge of the Grand Canal and waterways, has been dismissed and investigated. I'll have my chief attendant take over for now.”

Cao Huachun hasn't returned yet; it's likely that Wei Zhongxian deliberately "forgot" to send the urgent message urging him to return to the capital.

He still needs Wei Zhongxian now, and Cao Huachun has a deep-seated hatred for Wei Zhongxian because his mentor Wang An was killed by Wei Zhongxian. The two are like sworn enemies. He was originally thinking about what to do when Cao Huachun returned to the capital. Now it's fine. He can just let Cao Huachun go to be the governor of the canal and in charge of the waterway.

As they were discussing, Fang Zhenghua suddenly strode in with a memorial in hand, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, this is a secret memorial from Lord Sun Chuanting."

Has Sun Chuanting arrived in Liaodong?

Fortunately, he ordered Fang Zhenghua to directly send agents from the Eastern Depot to the post stations along the route, specifically to deliver Sun Chuanting's memorials.

Otherwise, even if Sun Chuanting sent a fast cavalryman to rush over, it would still take at least two or three days.

He took Sun Chuanting's memorial and glanced at it, his brows furrowing slightly again.

There was no mutiny in Liaodong Town yet. After the pay arrived, the soldiers were all smiles and praised Governor Sun Chuanting.

As a result, Sun Chuanting gained a foothold in Liaodong Town, and many generals took the initiative to gravitate towards him.

It was precisely because many generals took the initiative to align themselves with him that Sun Chuanting quickly learned about some of the hidden dangers in Liaodong Town.

For example, a fierce general in Liaodong raised a private army and carved out his own territory. If the governor or viceroy wanted to mobilize his troops, he had to ask him for help!

Among them, the families of Wu Xiang, the General Commander of Liaodong, and Zu Dashou, the Deputy General Commander of Liaodong, were the most severely affected.

These two families have kept thousands of private soldiers, and the Guan Ning Iron Cavalry is under their control!

The Guan Ning Iron Cavalry is currently the most elite force in the Ming Dynasty, without exception, because the Qin Army and Tianxiong Army have not yet been formed.

After Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangshan were assigned to govern Ji and Liao, it was unlikely that the Qin Army and Tianxiong Army would appear. In other words, the Ming Dynasty only had the Guan Ning Iron Cavalry, its most elite force, left.

He originally wanted Sun Chuanting to take control of the Guan Ning Iron Cavalry, the most elite force in the Ming Dynasty.

Who would have thought that the Guan Ning Iron Cavalry had long been controlled by the Wu and Zu families!

This should be true, because Wu Sangui was the son of Wu Xiang and the nephew of Zu Dashou. The two families had long been united by marriage. Moreover, when the Ming Dynasty fell, the last elite troops in Liaodong were in Wu Sangui's hands. Both families eventually surrendered to the Qing Dynasty!

Wu Sangui and Zu Dashou both seem to have been forced to surrender. If Sun Chuanting were to seize their military power now, would they be forced to surrender to the Jurchens?
Can he gamble on this?

(End of this chapter)