Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 470 Measurement
Zhu Cilang did not pay much attention to Zhang Shiyi.

After all, he was just a failed speculator. What's more, Boss Cao had already established the successful case thousands of years ago. There was really no need for him to cause any trouble because of those words whose authenticity was not known.

Therefore, when the news of Zhang Shiyi's capture came, he immediately issued an order to detain him in Zhenjiang.

Obviously, this is to show the attitude to certain people: I don't care about the past and I am not interested in knowing it, so you don't have to have any doubts.

According to his original plan, after two days of spreading the information, Zhang Shiyi would be executed and the matter would be settled. However, to his surprise, Tian Yang could not sit still first.

Actually, he didn't care much about the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, and appointed him as such just to reward him for his merits.

However, anyone who can leave a mark in history books will ultimately be extraordinary, and he seized this fleeting opportunity.

To be honest, this was completely a spur-of-the-moment idea of ​​Zhu Cilang.

According to his original thought, although Liu Zongzhou would take ruthless measures against the Liu family for the sake of his own reputation, he would not necessarily force the local clans into a desperate situation.

Based on this, the situation in Zhejiang would eventually develop into a situation where local power was weakened and Liu Zongzhou lost his position as the leader of the literati.

By then, a balance will have been formed between the old landlords and maritime traders in Zhejiang, and it will be difficult for them to join forces to fight against the imperial court as they did in the past.

But what Liu Qingtian did was really too ruthless.

Zhu Cilang had long known that Qian Qianyi was interested in official positions and Liu Zongzhou was interested in reputation.

His training of Mr. Qian went smoothly, and this leading scholar in Southern Zhili became his staunch supporter. However, he underestimated the importance Mr. Liu attached to his reputation.

In fact, when the old gentleman first arrived in Zhejiang, he did act according to Zhu Cilang's expectations. During this period, he never showed mercy to the illegal activities of the Liu family, but turned a blind eye to other families.

But after the name of Liu Qingtian spread, things started to develop in a strange way.

He first focused his attention on cases involving human lives, and later expanded it to cases of bullying men and women. In the end, some things that were extremely common in that era were also brought out for trial. Liu Qingtian became an upright official with clean hands, an iron face and a just attitude, who loved the people like his own children and hated evil as much as his enemies.

Obviously, this is an extremely dangerous sign, which will inevitably cause disaster if it is not stopped in time.

However, the situation is quite delicate and one could end up making things worse if one is not careful.

Seeing no opportunity coming, Zhu Cilang just waited quietly, and this sudden idea had a basis.

But then again, although this plan has not been well thought out, it is sufficient as a general direction.

The reason is ready. Liu Zongzhou had encountered several assassination attempts. As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he naturally had to protect such an honest minister.

After he leaves Zhejiang, Tian Yang only needs Xiao Guicao to wrap things up smoothly, and the people will also understand that the Ming Dynasty is not just ruled by one Liu Qingtian.

By then, Liu Zongzhou's influence among the people might not be reduced much, but it would be within a controllable range.

Of course, for Zhu Cilang this was just a minor disturbance, and even if there was a riot in Shaoxing, it was not worth spending too much time on it.

In the final analysis, in such a big country, all kinds of situations happen every day, and nothing that can be reported to the Qianqing Palace is a small matter. Moreover, the war in Jiangbei has just begun, and Zhu Cilang's energy has been greatly distracted.

Under such circumstances, as soon as Tian Yang's figure disappeared, he had already forgotten about Zhejiang.

"Zhou Quan, is there any military report today?"

"Your Majesty, yes."

As soon as Zhu Cilang's question was uttered, Zhou Quan had already walked up to the table in small steps. He then glanced at the stack that was as thick as an arm, and then pulled out a copy from the top.

He had a clear positioning for this Northern Expedition.

We cannot afford to delay strategically, but we cannot afford to be impatient tactically.

Therefore, after capturing the river mouth, the Ming army did not rush to attack Yangzhou, but used the river mouth as a support to transport shiploads of equipment and military supplies to the north of the Yangtze River. This report was also a routine report.

Otherwise, such an important letter would appear in front of Zhu Cilang as soon as it was sent to Yingtian, and there would be no possibility of it being mixed with other memorials.

"What is Yue'er doing?"

"Your Majesty, the Queen is in the Queen Mother's bedroom."

Zhu Cilang asked casually while flipping through the memorial. After receiving Zhou Quan's report, he did not respond and circled the memorial.

According to Huang Fei's report, after a few days of transfer, the front and rear armies have all arrived at the north of the Yangtze River. As long as the river channel is cleared, the Northern Expedition Army will advance to Yangzhou.

This is one of the reasons why he cannot be hasty in formulating tactics.

Faced with the huge disparity in water power, the Qing army not only built a number of docks around the river, but also sank some civilian ships, stones and other debris into the river.

Judging from the current state of the Qing army, it should be safe for only the land force to move north, but a lion will use all its strength to fight a rabbit, and with the support of the inland fleet, the risk of suffering much less damage will be great.

Of course, this reason only accounted for 30% to 20%. The most important reason that prompted him to make this decision was to see whether the Qing army would send reinforcements to Lianghuai.

After all, the Qing army had too few troops in Lianghuai, so few that even with that seemingly insignificant force, it was still not enough to satisfy the Ming army's appetite.

Therefore, he wanted to put some pressure on the Qing court by slowly advancing, prompting Beijing to dispatch more troops to Lianghuai under the influence of political factors.

But judging from the current situation, Dorgon and his men have a very clear understanding of the current situation. Apart from the troops hiding in Huai'an, they will not send any more soldiers to this deadly place.

Faced with such a situation, no matter how unwilling Zhu Cilang was, there were not many options available to him and the war could only proceed slowly.
-
three days later

Yangzhou
After several days of preparation, the Ming army, which had crossed the Yangtze River, finally arrived outside the city of Yangzhou in a large marching group.

However, due to the departure of the armed merchant ships, the range of the Ming army's artillery may not be able to match that of the artillery on the city, so it is reasonable to make some tests.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

The two inland warships slowly moved northward along the river while continuously firing their onboard artillery. The Ming troops on the shore were all paying close attention to the development of the situation near the camp, and they obviously understood the purpose of this action.

"Old Zhou, how far do you think the Tartars' cannons can reach?"

"Hard to say."

In response to his colleagues' questions, Zhou Xiancai just replied casually and stared at the warships on the river, without even the intention to say a few more words.

Chang Guanlin, who got the main attack mission in the Northern Expedition, was relieved of the depression he had felt for months. Xu Renjue, who got the landing mission, was also relieved of the depression he had felt for months. However, after landing, his small flag was trapped in the formation, and the Qing army was completely defeated before he could make any moves.

Under such circumstances, his depression continued, and he paid much closer attention to the siege than others.

"boom!"

"Boom!" "Boom!"

Another round of cannon fire rang out, and the bullets landed not far from the city. However, facing the test of the Ming army's warships, the artillery on the Yangzhou city did not respond for a long time, which made Zhou Xiancai frown.

In the past, they should have built various siege weapons after arriving at the enemy city. If the Tartars had sufficient troops, they would send troops to harass the logging and construction processes. If they were insufficient, they would need to set up traps and other defensive fortifications around the city in advance, and prepare battering rams and other city defense supplies in the city.

But with the equipment of one cannon after another, the earlier tactics have undergone tremendous changes. The first thing they did when they arrived at the vicinity of the city was no longer to build siege equipment, but to test the range of the enemy's artillery.

I have to say, this is an extremely rare thing.

If too few baits are sent out, they will not be able to lure the enemy to open fire. If too many baits are sent out, they will suffer huge losses.

Fortunately, the enemy this time is around the river, and the warships sent out to lure the enemy can withstand much more than physical bodies.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

“It hit!”

The sound of cannons rang out again, and the generals who had come out of the camp to watch couldn't help but cheer. Then the two warships moved closer to the city along the river, and then the frequency of artillery firing became much faster.

When the Tartars marched south, the city walls of Yangzhou only held out for half a day under the bombardment of artillery. Even though the Qing army had strengthened the city's defenses over the past year, the city's defenses were already of average quality and their toughness could not be improved much.

Although only a few of the cannons on the two warships could hit the walls of Yangzhou at this time, it was not a good idea to let them run rampant. So after the cannons on the ships fired several rounds, the cannons on Yangzhou City immediately sounded.

After being counterattacked by the Qing army, the two warships immediately headed south at full speed. However, everyone's attention was focused on the range of the Qing army's artillery, and no one cared about how quick their reaction was.

"It's almost the same as the one on the dock!"

"Yeah, it's almost the same!"

After saying something to his colleague beside him, Zhou Xiancai turned his gaze to several green-robed officials. Then, they gestured in the direction of the city and warships, and then began to draw on paper.

These officials were all from the Imperial Observatory, and they joined the vanguard army on the emperor's orders.

In Zhou Xiancai's concept, the Imperial Observatory was probably just for calculating auspicious days and making warnings based on astronomical phenomena, and it had nothing to do with defeating the enemy in battle.

However, since His Majesty sent them to the army, there must be a reason. However, he could not hide his curiosity, so it was reasonable for him to pay attention there.

"Your Majesty, do you want to predict the fortune before the battle?"

"No, I have never heard of your Majesty having this habit before."

"What do you know? Your Majesty used to be the crown prince, and now he is the emperor. Although it seems that there is only one word difference, your majesty is now much more powerful than ordinary gods."

"cut!"

Amid the discussion among the generals, the green-robed officials put away their papers and pens, then trotted over to Chang Guanlin and Mei Chun, and bowed in greeting.

"Two generals, we have figured it out."

"Oh? You figured it out?"

"Good job."

One of them was surprised, the other was polite, but their body movements were the same and they jumped off their horses at the same time.

Although these two rough guys could not quite understand what His Majesty said, they were still very curious about the connection between the Imperial Observatory and artillery.

According to what Your Majesty said, these people can not only calculate many things based on the changes in the stars, but can also calculate where is the safest place to set up artillery positions based on certain data.

Now that these people have obtained the results, they naturally want to see what the connection is.

just
"Well, you guys decide."

As a result, Chang Guanlin felt that he was looking at those pages of paper as if they were ghost paintings. Then he shook those things in front of Mei Chun, and the words in his mouth became weaker.

"General, the range of the enemy's artillery and the distance between the warships and the city are not very accurate, so the calculated results may be slightly different. However, if we move 375 steps closer to the city and build a 13-meter-high earthen platform there, our artillery will be able to hit the city."

"What about the one in the city?"

"Of course they can't hit us."

After the words fell, Chang Guanlin and Mei Chun looked at each other, and then they both looked at the ghost painting at the same time, and a question came out of their mouths at the same time.

"How did you calculate it?"

"This"

Seeing that the people from the Imperial Observatory looked embarrassed, Chang and Mei thought they had asked about some secret.

They could understand this. After all, everyone has his or her own way of making a living, and it is not convenient to reveal it to outsiders.

What's more, for them, all they need is the result. If they are asked to learn these weird symbols, it would be more painful than being tortured.

But their thoughts finally fell into the wrong place. They just hesitated for a moment, and then the oldest one began to explain.

"My two generals, this method is not a secret. It's just that there are several numerology books that need to be thoroughly studied before learning this method. If I were to explain it from the beginning, it would probably take quite a while."

At this point, Chang and Mei both frowned and nodded, obviously discouraged by the ghost painting and wanted to get to know him better.

However, the gap between the two of them and the people in the Imperial Observatory was probably five or six levels. Moreover, they were all His Majesty's trusted generals, so the older one started talking again.

"But if the two generals want to learn, we will not be stingy. I think we will be able to learn the tricks in a few years."

"No need."

"Please go back to the camp and rest."

Seeing the two important generals fleeing away from him, the older green-robed official stopped smiling.

It was not that he was two-faced. In fact, before he left, he had heard Jian Zheng say that His Majesty intended to let them compile a book for beginners to learn mathematics, and that book had to include all the algorithms from ancient times to the present, both at home and abroad.

Faced with such a daunting task, the elderly official who was obsessed with observing the stars was naturally helpless.

"Hey~~~ Let's take it one step at a time. We can't take up all the time."

(End of this chapter)