novelaction Chapter 533 Internal Strife in the Ming Dynasty
Chapter 533 Internal Strife in the Ming Dynasty
Chapter 533 Internal Strife in the Ming Dynasty
Ten days later, in the capital, in an inconspicuous house, Wang Wenzhou lay unconscious on the bed. In front of the bed was a screen and a silk thread, one end of which was tied to Wang Wenzhou's wrist and the other end was held in the old man's hand.
The old man had a white beard, held a silk thread in his hand, and shook his head from time to time.
Wang Chengen stood by with a worried expression. During the ten days that Wang Wenzhou had been unconscious, the Ming Dynasty was truly in chaos.
When the children learned that Wang Wenzhou had been poisoned and his fate was unknown, they ignored Wang Wenzhou's words and vowed to avenge him.
Zhang Jiao, under the pretext of "purging the court of corrupt officials," led an army of 100,000 straight towards the capital.
The imperial army was no pushover either; Yang Changsi immediately organized 200,000 troops to meet them head-on. However, the imperial army mutinied shortly after setting out.
Zhu Youjian only understood what had happened afterward. Although he had embezzled Wang Wenzhou's silver and nationalized Hanshan Bank, it remained under Wang Wenzhou's control.
Upon learning that Wang Wenzhou had been poisoned, the girls were filled with grief and indignation. After some discussion, they finally devised a plan to deal with Zhu Youjian. Wang Wenzhou had once said that controlling a country's economy meant controlling the country.
Liu Rushi then secretly manipulated Hanshan Bank to issue banknotes indiscriminately. Subsequently, Liu Rushi sent people with banknotes to buy banknotes.
Hanshan Supermarket already controlled more than one-third of the sales of goods in Daming. Now, the Hanshan group is buying up goods in a big way. In just a few days, the prices of all goods in Daming have increased several times.
This was incredibly difficult for ordinary people. One tael of silver used to buy a fine meal, but now it wasn't even enough for a full meal. Yet, their earnings remained the same. Some people even saw their income decrease because the strike by the Hanshan faction disrupted many people's jobs.
The common people need to eat, and so do the soldiers. Ever since Zhu Youjian embezzled Wang Wenzhou's money, the court had funds and no longer delayed paying the soldiers' wages.
However, with inflation, the soldiers' meager pay was not only insufficient to support their families, but they themselves could not even afford to eat.
The 200,000-strong army encountered logistical problems shortly after setting out.
The emperor doesn't starve his soldiers; an army without food will disband. Although the Ministry of Revenue had silver, it couldn't buy grain. The newly appointed Minister of Revenue, Han Jisi, never imagined that almost all of the Ming Dynasty's grain was controlled by Wang Wenzhou.
An army's supplies must precede its march; only Ultraman could fight if his troops were starving. Han Jisi, having no better solution, allocated funds to the army to procure supplies themselves.
The initial amount of silver wasn't small, but the power of inflation proved too much, and within days, the silver became increasingly worthless. Thanks to the actions of the children, the price of grain had risen from one tael of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain to thirty taels of silver per shi.
The military funds allocated by the Ministry of Revenue were spent in just two days. No money, no food, and you still want your brothers to fight? I'm not Ultraman!
Thus, the 200,000-strong army, originally sent to quell the rebellion, was directly transformed into a rebel army under the personal command of Yang Sichang.
This is where the power of public opinion becomes apparent.
The children published a scathing article in the *Hanshan Weekly*, claiming that in the Ming Dynasty, prices were skyrocketing and the people were suffering terribly, all because of a group of treacherous and wicked officials in the court. They were hoarding goods and profiting from the national crisis.
Even the children compiled a list of purchases made by several important officials of the court. For example, Qian Qianyi purchased 20,000 shi of grain when the price of grain was still 3 taels of silver per shi.
In truth, Qian Qianyi wouldn't care about such a small amount of money. The key issue was that his household had a large number of people—his entire family, including servants and other household members, totaling over two hundred people. With prices soaring, the steward wasn't stupid either; he wanted to save his master some money and buy more supplies in case of unforeseen circumstances.
However, if the steward did this, he would be accused of hoarding and speculating.
When the people saw this, they all objected. "We can't even get enough to eat, and you're making a fortune off of us? Why should we?"
As a result, Qian Qianyi and others became the targets of public criticism.
Historically, ordinary people rarely cause trouble. After all, those with hoes can't beat those with swords. But the soldiers are all armed with swords. When they hear, "We're starving while you corrupt officials are making a fortune, why should we risk our lives?"
Furthermore, with the spies sent by the children inciting them, two days later, the 200,000-strong army that was preparing to quell the rebellion directly detained Yang Sichang and defected to Zhang Jiao.
Because Zhang Jiao raised the banner of "purging the emperor's inner circle," the soldiers also felt that some people around the emperor should indeed be killed!
As if things weren't going to go wrong, during the ten days that Wang Wenzhou was in a coma, Zhu Youjian received nothing but bad news. Faced with these difficulties, Zhu Youjian even felt that he had aged ten years in just ten days.
First, Wang Qiang's troops from Shaanxi were intercepted by Qin soldiers led by Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, just as they were about to leave Shaanxi.
Wang Qiang led a contingent of Qin soldiers, whose men were all brothers he knew all the time, some even from the same village, childhood friends who had grown up together. It was precisely because of this that the two armies did not engage in battle. However, Sun Chuanting prevented Wang Qiang from going to the capital.
Wang Qiang was initially at a loss, as he had fewer men than Sun Chuanting, making it impossible for him to fight or escape.
Just then, Li Zicheng's army re-entered Shaanxi. Faced with two evils, Sun Chuanting chose the lesser and could only lead his army to cause trouble for Li Zicheng first. After all, Wang Qiang had not yet rebelled and was using the slogan of a petition group. He couldn't force Wang Qiang to rebel first and let Li Zicheng, the rebel, reap the benefits.
Without Sun Chuanting's interference, Wang Qiang's troops successfully left Shaanxi and headed straight for the capital.
The brothers Huang Taiji and Dorgon, showing considerable respect to Zhu Youjian, seized the opportunity presented by the internal strife in the Ming Dynasty to assert their presence. The Qing army, numbering 100,000, once again invaded the Ming. Zhu Youjian had no choice but to dispatch the main Ming force to resist.
At this point, facing Zhang Jiao's 300,000-strong army and Wang Qiang's 30,000 Qin soldiers, Zhu Youjian had no troops left to use.
Although the capital city had three major military camps, Zhu Youjian knew that these soldiers were no longer the same as those during the reign of Emperor Chengzu. Their fighting ability could only be demonstrated in bed and on the streets.
However, Zhang Jiao and Wang Qiang were about to arrive in the capital, forcing Zhu Youjian to organize a force to resist them. The Minister of War, Yang Sichang, had become Zhang Jiao's prisoner, and none of the high-ranking officials in the Ministry of War wanted to get involved.
Zhang Jiao raised the banner of "purging the court of corrupt officials," meaning whoever was appointed to command the Beijing garrison at this critical moment would be targeted for elimination if Zhang Jiao invaded. Ultimately, Cao Huachun was appointed to command the Beijing garrison in this perilous situation. Zhu Youjian lamented that a group of civil officials who constantly professed loyalty and patriotism were less capable than a mere eunuch in a crucial moment!
At this moment, Zhu Youjian also remembered Wang Wenzhou's good qualities. Although Wang Wenzhou had his own selfish motives, and this matter was caused by Wang Wenzhou.
Zhu Youjian was certain that if the enemy army were at the city gates, Wang Wenzhou would stand up to defend the Ming Dynasty. But now Wang Wenzhou had been poisoned and was unconscious. If Wang Wenzhou were to wake up, the rebellion of his wives and concubines would be quelled.
Therefore, Zhu Youjian ordered the imperial physicians to revive Wang Wenzhou no matter what.
Wang Wenzhou was severely poisoned; it was a miracle he was still alive, let alone waking up easily. The imperial physicians were helpless, and Zhu Youjian was both anxious and angry. He beheaded several imperial physicians and then ordered a nationwide search for renowned doctors who could cure Wang Wenzhou.
A generous reward always attracts brave men, especially one from the Emperor. Soon, renowned physicians from all over the country arrived at the palace to treat Wang Wenzhou. Many of these were charlatans who had come solely for the reward; their treatment only worsened Wang Wenzhou's condition. He had previously been able to eat, but now he was barely clinging to life.
Zhu Youjian was furious and immediately issued an imperial edict to behead these quack doctors.
News of Zhu Youjian's killing of so many doctors spread beyond the palace, so even doctors who were truly confident they could revive Wang Wenzhou dared not enter the palace. Even charlatans dared not go; how could doctors who relied on their skills for a living have such audacity?
Having no other option, Zhu Youjian secretly sent Wang Wenzhou out of the palace so that he could seek treatment from a renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctor as an ordinary person.