Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 61 Zhongxian Goes Mad and Robs Money Everywhere (Part 1)

Wei Zhongxian ordered the cessation of stipends for the imperial princes, but the princes and their relatives actually robbed the imperial court of its tax grain!
Is this still available?

Wei Zhongxian seemed to have gone mad with anger. He actually led several thousand Imperial Guards and several thousand Beijing garrison cavalrymen, under the banner of war, to attack the Dai prince!

The flags were uniform, black with white lettering, and the large characters were visible from a great distance.

What imperial envoy acting on imperial orders to handle a case?

Anyone who obstructs will be killed without mercy.

Those who resist will be killed without mercy.

Those who harbor such traitors shall be executed without mercy.

Those who leak information will be killed without mercy.

The messenger must be killed without mercy.

The Imperial Guards had countless hooves stuck into their backs; the sound of their hooves was deafening, the black flags were like a forest, and the air was thick with murderous intent—it was terrifying.

The 9000-year-old eunuch Wei was notorious for his ruthlessness, and no one doubted whether he dared to kill him.

There are countless people who have been killed. When the late emperor was alive, he killed anyone who offended him, anyone who provoked him, and anyone he wanted to kill. Who would doubt that he dared not kill?
The official road from the capital to Datong Prefecture was thrown into chaos. Wherever the imperial guards passed, passersby were terrified as if they had encountered a ferocious beast, desperately scrambling to either side of the road. Even if there were mountains on either side of the road, they would rush up them with all their might.

Those who obstruct our path will be killed without mercy! Who knows if you'll get chopped up if you block their way!
This fellow also played a trick to cut off information. He sent a team of secret agents to the post stations from the capital to Datong Prefecture. The agents had signs on their backs that said, "Anyone who leaks information will be killed without mercy."

The post station staff were so frightened that they dared not go out, fearing they would be chopped up with a knife if they did!

Now, let alone tipping someone off, official documents from Datong Prefecture to the capital had to be strictly checked before they could be sent back and forth. The Dai princes and their relatives had no idea that this fellow had led a large army to attack.

While Wei Zhongxian was leading tens of thousands of troops to storm Dai Fan, Zhu Jue calmly arrived at the construction site of the city wall on the north side of the east city with more than two hundred cavalry.

The rice and wheat harvest is almost finished, and more than 200,000 able-bodied men from the Beijing Garrison have arrived. The area along the more than 40-mile-long city wall is densely packed with people, and the brick kilns on both sides of the city wall are also lined up in two dense rows, with neat columns of smoke rising straight into the sky, which is quite a spectacular sight.

He carefully examined the progress of the city wall construction, and a hint of joy couldn't help but appear on his face.

Because tens of thousands of farmers and soldiers had dug the foundation for the city wall beforehand, the able-bodied men who came later only needed to build on it. In just a few days, the city wall had already been built to about half a person's height.

Half a person's height is about three feet, and ten feet is ten feet. That means the city wall here can be built in less than a month!

He said with some satisfaction, "Uncle Tian, ​​not bad, these young and strong men in the garrison are quite efficient."

That's not the case.

Tian Hongyu quickly replied modestly, "Many of them have actually done this before, because the walls of ordinary county towns and garrison cities are mostly only about ten feet high. They are very familiar with the work, and in addition, His Majesty provides good food, so they are well-fed and can work very efficiently."

Yes, Not Bad.

The construction of the city wall this time was indeed much faster than that of the city wall in Jinling.

The reason why the city wall of Jinling was built slowly was due to many factors. One factor was that it was too high. Another factor was that there was too much water there, making it difficult to dig the foundation. Water would seep in even a little bit when digging there. Also, because the city wall was high, the foundation had to be dug much deeper than here, so the construction speed was naturally much slower than here.

Another factor is human factors. The construction of the city walls of Jinling City involved conscripting artisans and farmers to perform labor without pay. They had to provide their own food. Who would work so hard for you?

In his past life, he had seen a funny short video. There was a bricklayer who was being scolded by the foreman for deliberately slacking off. The guy would push a handcart to the brick unloading area, neatly stack the bricks onto the cart, then push it to the brick-using area, neatly stack them on the ground, then neatly stack them onto the cart again, then push it back to the brick unloading area, neatly stack them on the ground, and then neatly stack them onto the cart again. He went back and forth, seemingly working hard, but in reality, he did nothing all day!

This is due to human factors. He fed the people well and paid them wages. There were also officers from the Beijing Garrison who selected people and supervised the work. Naturally, the able-bodied men of the Beijing Garrison worked hard.

He thought about it carefully and then asked, "Do you think the city wall here can be completed within a month?" It won't be completed that quickly.

Tian Hongyu pondered and said, "Your Majesty, if we're talking about the main body of the city wall, it can definitely be completed within a month. However, the city gate, gate tower, crenellations, and parapets are all delicate works. After the main body of the city wall is completed, it will take at least another month or so."

There's also delicate work involved, right?

Zhu Jue pondered, "This city wall, which is over forty li long, is only about six thousand zhang long. Even if it were filled with people, it could only hold a maximum of about one hundred thousand people. This delicate work should only require about one hundred thousand people, right?"

This delicate work can be done by fewer than 100,000 people.

Tian Hongyu shook his head repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, it's impossible to work if the city wall is full of people. We don't need too many people for fine work. Twenty or thirty thousand people can carry materials below the city wall and twenty or thirty thousand people can repair it on the city wall, which should be enough."

Great, we only need fifty or sixty thousand people, right?
Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue decisively said, "Let's not build the city wall on the north bank of the Tonghui River yet. Let's build the city wall on the south side of Tongzhou City first. The north-south city wall of Tongzhou City is already five or six li long, while the south city wall of the capital is only a little over six li long."

We only need to extend the city wall of Tongzhou City southward by about a mile, and then we can build it towards the southern part of the capital. That length would be roughly the same as the city wall on the north bank of the Tonghui River.

He originally thought that the construction of the East City would be completed this year, which is why he planned the city wall on the north bank of the Tonghui River. If the city wall on the north bank of the Tonghui River is not built, the south side of the East City will be unprotected, and the construction of the city walls on the east and north sides will be almost the same as not building them at all.

It now seems that not only will the construction of the East City be completed this year, but the southern city wall of Tongzhou City will also be completed, and even some of the factories in Tongzhou City can be built.

In this way, the city wall on the north bank of the Tonghui River seemed somewhat superfluous, because after the city wall on the south side of Tongzhou was built, the Tonghui River would become an inland river of the capital, and building a city wall in the middle would only be in the way.

Upon hearing this, Tian Hongyu cautiously replied, "Your Majesty, there shouldn't be much of a problem with building the southern city wall of Tongzhou this year. The problem is that we haven't reclaimed the land there yet. Eunuch Wei has gone to Daifan again, so who will reclaim the land?"

Wei Zhongxian is really useful; it seems like we can't do without him now.

Zhu Jue pondered, “They are a pure cavalry force. It will take them three days to reach Dai and three days to return. The imperial family members who are robbing grain in Dai are probably only a few dozen. If they are separated and they plunder the grain, it will only take a few days.”

Wei Zhongxian should be back in ten days to two weeks. Then we can still send him to reclaim the land south of Tongzhou.

Upon hearing this, Tian Hongyu nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Could Wei Zhongxian really get back in ten days or half a month?

On the sixth day, he sent a messenger back with a message delivered at breakneck speed.

That afternoon, around dusk, Zhu Jue had just returned to the Qianqing Palace and was having dinner with Empress Zhang and Princess Zhang when Fang Zhenghua suddenly rushed in, holding a memorial and bowing, saying, "Your Majesty, Eunuch Wei has sent an urgent report from eight hundred li away."

This fellow even had someone write a memorial to the throne?
Zhu Jue took the memorial and was taken aback.

Wei Zhongxian said that too many members of the imperial family of the Dai princes were involved in the looting of grain. He arrived and interrogated over a hundred people on the first day, and several hundred more were implicated on the second day!

And these guys are all very rich. They haven't even finished confiscating the hundreds they caught on the first day, and they've already found real gold and silver worth millions of taels of silver.

Wei Zhongxian then asked whether to immediately requisition the grain carts from Datong Town to send the confiscated gold and silver back, or to transfer all the Jinyiwei's carts there and bring them back together after all the confiscated gold and silver had been seized.

Won't this guy get into trouble for ransacking houses so recklessly?

If the imperial family members who robbed grain in Daifan were all so wealthy, then his guess was correct: those guys were instigated to rob grain, not because they were too poor to eat.

Did the three powerful clans or the eight imperial merchants of Puzhou not have any backup plans when they came up with these schemes and tricks?
At this critical moment, we absolutely must not allow Wei Zhongxian to send troops to escort the gold and silver back to the capital.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "You send someone to the prince to convey my oral decree. Have Wei Zhongxian confiscate all the gold and silver that has been seized, and then bring them back together. This way it will be safer. There's no need to send the Embroidered Uniform Guard's carriages over; just requisition the grain carts from Datong Town."

Fang Zhenghua quickly clasped his hands in greeting, bowed, and took his leave.

(End of this chapter)