Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 70 Mysterious Defeat and Bizarre Execution (Part 2)

Hong Chengchou seemed to be a genius at leading troops into battle.

This fellow led 20,000 border troops in pursuit of over 30,000 rebels, who were running around in disarray.

Moreover, this guy was making a killing every day, three or four hundred today, four or five hundred tomorrow, and his military merits kept increasing.

The cabinet also attached a draft proposal, requesting that this fellow be awarded a military merit reward.

Zhu Jue always scoffed at such draft proposals.

These starving people, who can't even run away, are acting all high and mighty, offering fifty taels for each bandit's head!
If you calculate it that way, killing all 30,000 starving people would be a reward of more than 1.5 million taels of silver. Moreover, the peasant army would eventually number in the hundreds of thousands. Where would he get so much money to reward military merits?

If Hong Chengchou had any ability, he should go and kill the Jurchens. A reward of one hundred taels for each one killed would be no problem. Right now, all the able-bodied Jurchens don't even number 100,000. Even if they were all killed, it wouldn't be more than ten million taels.

If ten million taels of silver could solve the Jurchen problem, then we would be making a fortune. In history, Emperor Chongzhen spent countless amounts of ten million taels of silver without managing to do anything to the Jurchens.

The problem is, Hong Chengchou wouldn't actually kill the Jurchens. This guy actually wanted to show off his abilities by killing starving people, and then gather the elite border troops to send their heads to the Jurchens.

He naturally wouldn't award military merits to such despicable people; every time, he would simply write, "No money!"
He has many places where he needs to spend money.

At this moment, the number of able-bodied men from the Beijing garrison who have been mobilized to build the city wall is nearly 400,000, along with more than 100,000 artisans and their families, more than 100,000 farmers and their families, and more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians from Jizhou Town who are building the defense line. The wages alone are nearly a million taels a month, and the monthly food expenses are also over a million taels.

However, the money was well spent. Several factories in the East City have been built, the East City wall is finished, and the city wall on the south side of Tongzhou City is growing at a visible speed.

Even more encouraging is that Bi Maokang has successfully manufactured the Wugang truck, and in one batch of one hundred vehicles.

Around 9 a.m. that day, Zhu Jue had just finished reviewing the memorials when he eagerly led Bi Maokang, Lu Xiangsheng, and others to the chariot factory.

At this moment, rows of armored vehicles were parked outside the factory buildings. They were all jet black, with densely packed spikes about a foot long on the front, gleaming coldly.

If cavalrymen were to collide with it, they would be riddled with holes.

This armored chariot was truly the nemesis of cavalry. Cavalrymen would certainly not dare to ram into such a chariot covered with spikes. Moreover, with such a large chariot, cavalrymen could neither lift it nor push it, and could only take bullets from the front.

Zhu Jue looked at the chariot, which was about the size of a small passenger car, and suddenly realized something.

He thought for a moment, then asked, "Lord Meng, how many horses are needed to pull this armored chariot? And how many people will be needed to push it during battle?"

This has been a standard feature since the Han Dynasty.

Without hesitation, Bi Maokang said, “Your Majesty, this chariot needs two horses to pull it. If it is used in battle, ten soldiers will be needed on each side to push it. There will also be people outside to watch over the horses, to deliver weapons and ammunition, people inside to shoot with crossbows and muskets, people inside to pierce with spears, and people inside to command the battle. A total of thirty people will be needed for one armored chariot.”

It takes twenty people to push this heavy rickshaw!
Zhu Jue asked, somewhat puzzled, "How heavy is this car itself?"

Bi Maokang replied without hesitation, "This vehicle weighs about two thousand jin."

That's not right. In later times, a cart with a load of 1,000 jin (500 kg) could be pushed by a maximum of four people. Logically speaking, a 2,000-jin (1,000 kg) chariot could be pushed by eight people, and ten strong men could even make it run.

Where is the greatest resistance when pushing a stroller?
Zhu Jue walked up to a military vehicle and took a closer look, and then he understood.

The greatest resistance to pushing a cart is at the junction of the wheel axle and the cart body.

The wheel axles and axle seats of the Wugang chariot were made of steel, and a copper bushing was added to the connecting parts.

This is a hard grind, so the resistance is naturally high, and the heavier it is, the greater the resistance.

Zhu Jue immediately pointed to the copper sleeve and said, "Lord Meng, this connection won't work. You need to change it. This thing is made up of two steel rings and a small cylindrical steel ring. The steel rings are one large and one small. The large one is embedded in the seat and stays still, while the small one is clamped to the wheel axle and stays still. When pushing, only the small cylindrical steel ring between the two rolls. By the way, the small cylindrical steel ring also needs to be positioned with retaining rings on both sides to make it evenly distributed between the two steel rings."

If this thing were made, a single horse could probably pull the Wu Gang chariot!

Upon hearing this, Bi Maokang nodded excitedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand. I will order someone to make them immediately." Do you think these bearings are so easy to make?

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "Don't rush. The dimensions of these bearings must be perfectly aligned. If the dimensions are even slightly off, they will either get stuck and won't move, or they will wear out very quickly. You should wait until Chang Geng has developed the lathe before making them. Handcrafting is too time-consuming and laborious."

Uh, we still have to wait for the lathe?

Upon hearing this, Bi Maokang cautiously said, "Your Majesty, would it be alright if I ordered them to make a sample first?"

This is of course no problem.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and said, "Well, let's make a sample first. It's perfect timing, since the bearing housing will also need to be remade after the bearing is modified, and this will also need to be modified according to the size of the bearing."

Bi Maokang nodded, then asked, "Your Majesty, what about other places? Do they need to be changed?"

These things have been used for thousands of years, and most of the changes have probably already been made.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "No need to change other parts. You can have them manufacture the parts first, and then assemble them once the bearings are ready. By the way, how many of these armored vehicles can be manufactured in a month?"

Bi Maokang pondered, "Right now we're producing 100 vehicles in a batch, which takes about ten days. We can produce about 300 vehicles a month."

If the bearings of these armored chariots are modified, each chariot will only need 20 men. If all 50,000 infantrymen of the Beijing garrison are converted into chariot soldiers, 2,500 armored chariots will be needed. If 300 chariots are built per month, it will only take eight or nine months. There is no need to increase production.

The problem is the warhorses.

The warhorses from Xuanfu Town and Datong Town should have been carried over by now, even if they had to be carried by people. Why haven't they arrived yet?
Thinking of this, Zhu Jue couldn't help but look towards Xuanfu Town in the west.

Just then, a fast rider came galloping from the west.

A moment later, Fang Zhenghua hurried over with a memorial in his hand, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, good news from Shanxi."

How many starving people did Hong Chengchou kill?

Zhu Jue took the memorial and was stunned when he read it.

The bandit leader Wang Jiayin was beheaded!
Hong Chengchou, eager to claim credit, gave a vivid description.

It turns out that after Wang Jiayin became king, he married a beautiful woman. This woman's elder brother, Zhang Liwei, happened to be a junior officer in the border garrison of Pianguan Town, and he happened to be among the 20,000 troops that were being recruited this time.

Upon learning the news, Hong Chengchou devised a clever plan. Taking advantage of Wang Jiayin's rest in the mountains near Zezhou and Luzhou, he deliberately retreated more than ten miles, pretending to also need to rest. Then he sent Zhang Liwei to feign surrender by claiming kinship.

Wang Jiayin, unsuspecting, accepted Zhang Liwei and entrusted him with important responsibilities. Zhang Liwei bribed Wang Jiayin's personal guards and then killed Wang Jiayin under cover of night, bringing his head back as evidence.

The cabinet also submitted a draft proposal, stating that the rebels' actions suggested they intended to cross Wangwu Mountain and flee to the Central Plains. Hong Chengchou had outstanding military achievements, and for the convenience of suppressing the rebels, it was requested that he be promoted to Governor-General of the troops in Shanxi and Henan provinces, with the additional titles of Minister of War and Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. Zhang Liwei also had outstanding merits, and it was requested that he be promoted to General of Henan.

After reading it, Zhu Jue couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "What clever tactics the three powerful clans and eight imperial merchants of Puzhou have!"

Wang Jiayin inexplicably gained a beautiful woman, and then inexplicably lost his life!

Hong Chengchou seized the opportunity to gain military merits, and Zhang Liwei was also able to take the opportunity to rise in rank.

These guys are treating people like fools. They want to promote a governor and a general with just a honey trap.

Fine, I'll play dumb. Anyway, it'll just be another scapegoat. There's more than one vassal king; the more scapegoats, the better.

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully, then handed the memorial to Liu Ruoyu and said authoritatively, "Granted."

(End of this chapter)