Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 95 Smoke of War Rises as the Jurchens Attack (Part 1)

By the end of February, almost all the snow and ice in the Gyeonggi region had melted.

While candidates for the imperial examinations were causing trouble in the inner city of the capital, construction had already begun on three new cities to the north.

Zhu Jue hurriedly gave Wei Zhongxian some instructions, then led Wang Chengen and Fang Zhenghua out of Anding Gate and headed straight for the Wenyu River in the northeast.

At this time, the fields north of the inner city were also teeming with people. Countless young men and soldiers from the Beijing Garrison and the peasantry were carrying hoes and gathering in groups towards the construction site of the city wall more than ten miles to the north.

They all had beaming faces, as if they were attending a wedding.

There was no celebratory feast during the construction of the city wall, but the food was plentiful, and there was also a monthly wage of one tael of silver.

They'd all been cooped up all winter and were eager to stretch their muscles, but rice and wheat couldn't be planted until April. They had nothing to do for over a month, so earning a little over an ounce of silver would be a great thing for them.

The official road was also full of people at this time. The able-bodied men of the Imperial Guard and farmers gave way to them when they saw that they were all dressed as Imperial Guard soldiers. However, they could not run fast and it took them about 15 minutes to run more than 10 miles.

At this time, the moat between the Wenyu River and the Chaobai River had already been dug, and the foundation of the city wall on the west bank of the Chaobai River and the west side of the Wenyu River had also been dug. Countless young men were lining up to dig the ground, and the scene was quite spectacular.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Jue couldn't help but feel a sense of relief.

Tian Hongyu's organizational skills are quite good. In just two or three days, there are probably tens of thousands of young men gathered in this area. The construction speed of the northern city wall will definitely not be slow.

He was scanning the area with binoculars when Tian Hongyu rode up on horseback and bowed to him.

However, Tian Hongyu also knew that he was traveling incognito at the moment, so he did not say anything such as "Greetings, Your Majesty".

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Father-in-law, how long will it take to dig this section of the moat?"

This won't take much time.

Tian Hongyu explained in detail: "This moat is not a canal. It would be good if it were ten zhang wide and only two zhang deep. This moat, which is less than ten li long, has been dug by tens of thousands of able-bodied men. They can dig at least two or three chi a day, and it will definitely be completed within ten days."

Yes, Not Bad.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "How many days will it take to build the foundation?"

This is a bit troublesome.

Tian Hongyu said with some helplessness, "The city wall we built this time is too long, and it will take time for all the able-bodied soldiers and households in the garrison to arrive. I estimate that it will take at least half a month to dig the foundation."

Half a month isn't a long time.

With all the manpower in place, the main structure of the city wall should be completed within a month, which will not affect spring plowing.

Zhu Jue looked at the young men who were sweating profusely from digging in only thin clothes, then reached out to feel the temperature and asked, "Is it still a bit cold to camp in the wild tonight?"

Tian Hongyu nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, they all brought quilts. They need to light a campfire and cover themselves with quilts to sleep in the shacks at night."

This little campfire is such a hassle.

They also built a lot of boilers to transport to Liaodong. It would be difficult to transport them when it was freezing cold, but now that spring is here, there's no rush to transport them, so it's perfect to use them.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Then go and tell Yuan Jiu to move all the heating boilers in the stock over, and then have the craftsmen connect the heating pipes into the shacks. That way, they can use them to heat water for bathing during the day, and the craftsmen can just go to sleep at night without having to light a campfire."

Upon hearing this, Tian Hongyu was overjoyed and said, "They were just worried about the inconvenience of boiling water for bathing, this is perfect."

As they were discussing things, Lu Xiang-sheng arrived on horseback with Sun Ying-yuan, Zhou Yu-ji, and Huang De-gong.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Jue asked curiously, "Jian Dou, what brings you here?"

Lu Xiang-sheng solemnly said, "Your Majesty, well, didn't you say that we should be on high alert to prevent the Jurchens from launching a surprise attack on Jizhou Town?"

The Jurchens have already taken over all of Chahar's territory. We all feel that once the snow and ice on the northern grasslands melt, the Jurchens are very likely to attack from the direction of Jizhou Town. There is no bridge over the Chaobai River. If the cavalry and chariot troops want to go to Jizhou Town, they either have to take a ferry from the Tongzhou canal wharf or build a pontoon bridge. Taking a ferry is too slow, and if a pontoon bridge is built later, it will take at least half a day.

Therefore, we want to build a pontoon bridge here first, so that we won't be caught off guard if the Jurchens really attack. We're just here to see where it would be best to build a pontoon bridge.

There are really too few bridges now, making crossing the river quite troublesome.

However, with more bridges built, it would be easier for the Jurchens to cross the river if they attacked.

Zhu Jue raised his binoculars and scanned the Chaobai River to the east, then decisively said, "Jian Dou, then you should find a relatively narrow section of the river in the northeast of the city and build a pontoon bridge."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng instinctively reached out to bow, but upon seeing Zhu Jue's military uniform, he withdrew his raised hand. After all, he was the Governor of Shuntian, and it would be abnormal for him to bow to a mere Imperial Guard officer.

To avoid giving anyone away, he could only nod slightly and say, "Okay."

Zhu Jue then instructed in detail: "Father-in-law, you should build the section of the city wall where Jian Dou and the others are building the pontoon bridge first. Build the walls on both sides first, and leave a gate at the entrance of the pontoon bridge. Send more people over there to build it as soon as possible. After the city wall and gate are built, you should also build a stone arch bridge there, so that it will be more convenient to cross the river."

Upon hearing this, Tian Hongyu followed Lu Xiang Sheng's example and nodded slightly, saying, "Okay, I understand."

Will the Jurchens attack this year?
This is really hard to say.

At this moment, in the cabinet office, Han Kuang and Feng Quan sat facing each other in a dark corner, looking at each other in silence.

There are some things they can't say yet.

This is because not all officials in the imperial court are traitors; many simply want to seize enough benefits to enjoy wealth and honor.

These kinds of people don't even want the Ming Dynasty to perish. If the Ming Dynasty were to perish, where would they go to seize profits?
Therefore, many officials in the imperial court also hated traitors who colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country.

Feng Quan's father, Feng Shengming, is clear evidence of this.

After Liaoyang fell, Feng Shengming, the military commissioner, disappeared for several days and then returned. At that time, not only the Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions, but also the Donglin faction in the court were furious and wanted to kill this traitor who colluded with the enemy.

Feng Quan even tried to ask the Donglin Party to save his father, but instead suffered the greatest humiliation in history.

Therefore, there are some things they cannot say openly, and there are some things they cannot let other officials in the court know, not even other members of the Donglin faction.

Their silence implies that there is no way to resolve the current predicament through normal means; to resolve it, they must rely on external forces or external enemies.

They had originally planned to use the imperial examination to deal with Xu Guangqi and Wang Zheng in the inner court and create chaos at the same time.

Who would have thought that Wei Zhongxian could subdue the troublemaking examinees with a single move?

Xinglong suffered heavy losses again last year, losing not only millions of taels of goods, but also being extorted by Wei Zhongxian for several million taels.

Now a new city is being built north of the capital. If the Later Jin army doesn't make a move soon, the capital will be impregnable.

What will they be able to do against Wei Zhongxian, and what will they be able to keep the young emperor in check?

Seeing that Feng Quan remained silent for a long time, Han Kuang could only sigh inwardly and then got up and walked out.

It's noon, and he seems to have gone home for lunch.

However, after returning to his residence, he did not have a meal. Instead, he summoned a trusted confidant and whispered something to him.

Soon, the confidant rode out of the capital and headed straight for Juyong Pass.

Some things cannot be known to others, nor can they be written in letters; they can only be passed down orally.

(End of this chapter)