I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 440: Governor of the Americas

Chapter 440

The Forbidden City was actually the emperor's cage. Many emperors never left this cage in their lives. The Imperial City was just a slightly larger royal community.

In an era without Internet and computers, Cheng Shijie actually spent less time in the Ming Dynasty and spent more time in later generations. However, Cheng Jialong preferred to be in the Ming Dynasty because in later generations, he was just an ordinary boy. Faced with heavy academic work, endless homework, and ubiquitous comparisons.

In this situation, he had a very difficult life. However, it was different in the Ming Dynasty. It turned out that he was the son of Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Ning and Marshal Tianming, but now he became the prince of Guangping. There was no shortage of people around him to please him. People, not to mention, Cheng Jialong still has great power.

Under the guidance of Cheng Jialong, Gao Jie now has a total of 3 to 3 people working for him. These [-] to [-] people are equivalent to [-] to [-] families. Moreover, as long as Cheng Jialong is willing, he can occupy a piece of land in Neptune and become the king at any time. , In fact, even if he is not independent, as long as Cheng Shijie dies, he will never be like Huo Guang's son Huo Yu.

Although Cheng Jialong did not explicitly tell Cheng Shijie that he would not force Cheng Shijie to become emperor, as long as Cheng Shijie gives up in the future, Cheng Jialong will definitely learn from Cao Pi.

Now Cheng Shijie also has a headache. Cheng Jialong has realized his shortcomings and is studying crazily. When Cheng Shijie returns to the future, he is no longer the same as before, unable to read and have no self-motivation in learning. Now he It was considered a struggle, and they hired four tutors to study political science, finance, economics, and of course military affairs.

Cheng Shijie was unwilling to enter such a cage, but Cheng Jialong was very willing.

Cheng Shijie thought for a long time and decided to let nature take its course.Of course, Cheng Shijie also knew the real purpose of these people in trying to persuade them to join them. Now the interests of these generals and officials in the Ning Navy system were aligned with Cheng Shijie's. Even now, Cheng Shijie has not awarded titles to the generals and officials under his command.

However, as long as Cheng Shijie becomes emperor, he must reward the meritorious officials.At that time, Liu Bang became the emperor and entrusted 140 seven princes. Zhu Yuanzhang became the emperor after the founding of the country and entrusted 25 dukes, 79 marquises, 23 counts, [-] viscounts and [-] barons.

The founding emperors of the past dynasties were actually the same, and they would all adopt the same method. Cheng Shijie could not want to be the emperor and enter that cage, but the problem was that he could not prevent the people under him from getting promoted and making money.

The purpose of persuading people to advance is actually to get promoted. If Cheng Shijie doesn't become the emperor, they won't have peace of mind. Why can I work so hard but not be able to protect my descendants?

Which parent’s struggle is for themselves?It’s not just to let the children live a better life. The parents have endured hardships and don’t want their children to suffer them again.

Cheng Shijie began to think about the next important question, where should the future of Ming Dynasty go.

Just when Zhou Ning returned to the General Staff Headquarters, Wu Sheng and Song Xiance hurriedly gathered around and asked: "Chief of General Staff Zhou, how are you doing?"

"Ugh……"

Zhou Ning let out a long sigh.

Although he has not officially answered yet, seeing Zhou Ning like this, no one knows that this is actually the answer.

Song Xiance sighed. Since Cheng Shijie was unwilling, no one could force him, because Cheng Shijie had now firmly grasped the military power, especially after the Meng En incident. Even if they thought of using Cheng Shijie's name to use soldiers to persuade them to join, Not anymore.

The issue of the imperial robes will never fall on Cheng Shijie. Because Cheng Shijie doesn't want to, they can't mobilize the army. Although the General Staff of the Ming Dynasty has the authority to directly mobilize the army during wartime, the army also has the power to make decisions on the battlefield. , but within the control area of ​​Cheng Shijie's Guards Brigade, no troops are allowed to approach without orders.

……

In Chang'an, the person who also had a headache was Niu Jinxing. Niu Jinxing was Li Zicheng's military advisor. Niu Jinxing had a quarrel with a relative named Wang (also known as "disobeying a huge gentry in the same city") and was falsely accused of resisting tax arrears and seizing women. 18 people, but suffered "injustice", were dismissed from the imperial examination, and were sent to the army to serve as Lu's servants.

Later, Niu Jinxing became Li Zicheng's prisoner. As one of the few literati under Li Zicheng, Li Zicheng asked Niu Jinxing for advice. It happened that Lu Xiangsheng had to retreat due to the Mongolian invasion at that time, and Niu Jinxing became Li Zicheng's military advisor. Now he is Li Zicheng was awarded the title of Grand Scholar of Tianyou Palace, the head of the civil service, and actually held the power of prime minister.

Li Zicheng also married his 12-year-old daughter Li Cuiwei to Niu Jinxing's son Niu Quan. Now Niu Jinxing not only has a monarch-minister relationship with Li Zicheng, but also a son-daughter in-law relationship.

When Zhu Quan saw Niu Jinxing coming back, he hurriedly greeted him and talked for a while. Seeing that there was no one around, he lowered his voice and asked, "Father, is the matter done?"

"no!"

Niu Jinxing shook his head.

Niu Quan was very puzzled: "Father, the world has been decided. Does Da Qin still have a chance?"

Niu Jinxing's eyes were cold and sharp, and he whispered: "The regent of the country, even as a father, I can't predict him."

"Is there anyone in this world that my father can't predict?"

"Before this battle, my father had misjudged him, and now I don't dare to speculate randomly. However, judging from his past behavior, my father may have to deal with the Han Dynasty first. Before, he established slaves. After establishing slaves, he took care of the chieftains from various places. , change his position and return to his hometown, in this case, Chang'an will have peace for at least two or three years."

"Return to the native land?"

Niu Quan said: "With the unification of the Central Plains, it is difficult for the chieftain to gain the upper hand. Does he want to destroy the chieftain with his help? This is impossible! Although Nanjing was victorious this time, the victor was not It’s not easy. It is said that there were more than [-] casualties. Even the slaves during their heyday could not achieve this, but those scholars in Nanjing did it, which shows that he is not as strong as the rumors say!"

"Not necessarily."

Niu Jinxing said: "During the Three Kingdoms period, among the three kingdoms of Wei, Wu and Shu, who didn't have only a few states, and which one had the power to unify? We still chased Hu'er to fight! The battle against Hu depends on effective force, and It does not depend on the number of people and the amount of land. Since the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, all the emperors from Chongzhen onwards have not been good at governing the country. The more land, the more ineffective the governance, the greater the population, the more serious the internal strife. Cheng Shijie is no more than a hegemon in terms of talent, and the result is that he can rise Unrivaled in martial arts, he intimidates the world."

Niu Jinxing is extremely self-interested. He is not actually as loyal to Li Zicheng as he appears on the surface. Even though Niu Jinxing was only elected in the seventh year of Tianqi and was dismissed from his position, in fact, he really did not like Li Zicheng. , repeatedly urging Li Zicheng to ascend the throne, it was just putting Li Zicheng on the fire.The general trend of the world had already been clear when Cheng Shijie went north. It was not that Niu Jinxing had not seen through it. He persuaded Li Zicheng to join him, which meant that he regarded Li Zicheng as the most dazzling target. As long as Li Zicheng did not withstand the temptation and officially ascended the throne, Cheng Shijie and the hundreds of thousands of elites under his command would A strong army will target Li Zicheng. With Li Zicheng's dazzling torch, he can disappear in the dark and take the opportunity.

After a long time, Niu Quan sighed and said: "That man was ruthless to the gentry, ruthless to the shisi, and ruthless to the Western barbarians. It is said that this time he not only started a war against the Xiaori, but also against the Dutch barbarians, and now he is about to go to war with the chieftains." , the emperors of the past dynasties, even the Emperors of Qin, Han, Wu, Emperors of Tang and Song, who were helpless against the chieftain? But he was seeking his own death!"

"That's not the case. From this point of view, that person is the real heavenly being, and his decision cannot be arbitrarily predicted!"

"Then what should we do? Are we just going to stay at home and wait to die?"

"You and I, father and son, are shrinking at this moment, just in time for the weather."

Niu Jinxing said: "It is no longer our turn to worry about great achievements. In the last days of the country, it depends on the people. Saving one more life means leaving one more hope; in the prosperous days of the country, one looks at academics. One more file will mean one more prosperity in the future. feet height.”

Niu Quan was silent for a while, then sighed: "Father, you should take a long-term view. This matter will bring no danger or disaster to us, but it is a great contribution!"

After all, Niu Jinxing was a scholar trained by the Ming Dynasty system. In fact, he was not bad at all. He had a good vision and structure. In history, after Li Zicheng ascended the throne, he created an excuse for Wu Sangui to attract Qing soldiers. When Li Zicheng was defeated, Niu Jinxing The slander and assassination of Li Yan caused the rebel army to lose morale, and Song Xiance fled.

Because many people believe that Niu Jinxing is the culprit of Li Zicheng's defeat. In fact, Niu Jinxing slandered Li Yan just because he wanted to work hard to save Li Zicheng's defeat.

This is Li Zicheng's line dispute. Li Yan represents the ideal faction in Li Zicheng's army, but this faction occupies the majority of people: "Slaughter cattle and sheep, prepare wine, open the city gate to welcome King Chuang, will King Chuang come?" Pay food!"

But the problem is that this policy is feasible when there is a rogue army. But the problem is that when Li Zicheng becomes the king, this becomes the root cause of the defeat of Li Zicheng's army. Without food, how can Li Zicheng feed an army of one million people? ?Can killing all the gentry solve the problem?

In fact, it is not possible, but it is creating new problems.

……

After Cheng Shijie arrived in Nanjing from Beijing, he came to the south of the Yangtze River. He did not return to Beijing. He only took the Guards Brigade to travel around the states in the south of the Yangtze River. He had no involvement in the specific military and government affairs of the Ming Dynasty. Ning Haijun captured Liaodong in chaos. And in a very short period of time, the north and the south of the Yangtze River were obtained, and the officials basically retained the original organization and personnel.

Naturally, it was impossible to clean up the officialdom in such a short period of time before and after the war, but Cheng Shijie's figure kept appearing everywhere.Officials everywhere were alert and did not dare to slow down their work or commit corruption. There was no other way. No one had the courage when the common people could see the supreme commander at any time.

Just a few blind people bumped into the muzzle of the gun.Naturally, Cheng Shijie singled out these corrupt officials or derelict officials and hung them on trees to warn others.

In the past few months, the place in Jiangnan has been surprisingly peaceful, and the social order is also surprisingly good. There are no strong enemies to harass the outside world for the time being, and people inside are at peace. Some local elders say it is a great peace after the chaos.

Of course, the people are still poor. It is normal for people to be so poor that they have no food to eat. Even the clothes are not enough in the middle of winter. Although people in this era are far more cold-resistant than the era when Cheng Shijie came, they still have scanty clothes and insufficient food. With my physical ability to withstand the cold, it is difficult to endure a snow falling.

However, thanks to Cheng Shijie and the Ming government footing the bill and adopting the relief-for-work approach, the lives of the people in Jiangnan are improving rapidly. However, the problem is that even under the sun there is a shadow. It is possible to solve most problems through relief-for-work, but it does not Not all problems can be solved.

In June, a mass drowning incident occurred in Longshan County, Yongshun Prefecture, Huguang. This incident was shocking in peacetime, but it did not cause much trouble in these troubled times.

However, Cheng Shijie was extremely sad and angry, from a member of the Yongshun Executive Committee to a member of the Longshan Working Committee.A row of people knelt down in front of Cheng Shijie and kowtowed to admit their mistake.

After making inquiries, Cheng Shijie found out that they were just negligent and did not do evil intentionally. The cause of the incident was that these more than a hundred people, because there was no man in charge of the family, and the old and young, even if they went to the construction site to work, they could not get out of the assessment. For work performance, they could only be given half a cent of their salary as required, which was five liters of grain per day. Five liters of grain would be enough to feed a family of five for three days in future generations.

That's because people in later generations had a lot of vegetables and meat to eat, and their meals were small and over-nutritional. However, in this era, people had no fat and water in their stomachs and had huge appetites. An average child of twelve or thirteen years old would eat one meal per meal. One liter of rice is not a problem at all. If there are many children, five liters of rice is simply a life-threatening situation.

In this world, there are only poverty-stricken diseases with no cure. Therefore, the old, weak, women and children who have no way out cannot bear to see their young children bear such a heavy burden. Therefore, 55 people are over 37 years old, and [-] people are over [-] years old. In their sixties, there were more than a dozen elderly people in their seventies who committed suicide by jumping into the river together. Because the reservoir was being built downstream, these bodies were discovered immediately and brought to Cheng Shijie.

Is there something wrong with these officials?Yes, there is a real problem. A crime of dereliction of duty is indispensable, but Cheng Shijie really didn't do anything cruel, because this is the tragedy of this era. The regulations are dead, so how can you open your mouth?If gifts are opened to people who have no ability to work, a large number of lazy people "without the ability to work" will appear.

Regarding the officials of the Yongshun Prefecture's Executive Committee and Longshan Working Committee, Cheng Shijie did not order their removal from office, but only fined and punished them.

While Cheng Shijie was busy using his own practical actions to inspect the capitals of Jiangnan states, on the dock in Liaodong, a fleet of quite amazing size raised its sails, and a large number of people and materials were on board, preparing to go to sea.

Shen Qidong, the son of Shen Boyun, the commander-in-chief of this fleet. Although Shen Qidong was the son of Shen Boyun, a cabinet member, he really did not receive preferential treatment from Shen Boyun. He only discovered Zhanzhou after nine deaths. When he came back, he was seriously ill. Shen Qidong almost died in the field. If Cheng Shijie hadn't brought good medicine from later generations, Shen Qidong would have died long ago.

Because he discovered Zhanzhou's great achievements, Cheng Shijie made Shen Qidong the governor of the Americas. A large group of Spanish sailors looked on with confusion.

To be honest, they were quite envious of Shen Qidong. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty was so supportive of his cause that he dispatched 26 giant shark-class battleships to escort him. At the same time, he asked the most outstanding craftsmen to create the largest sea vessel for the expedition fleet. Ships, several with a displacement of an astonishing two thousand tons.

Even in Spain, where the shipbuilding industry is highly developed, such huge ships are rare.

The strong national power of the Ming Dynasty also provided a strong guarantee for this expedition. There were mountains of canned meat, canned vegetables and even canned fruits that could be stored in the cabin for two or three years. There was also an unusually sufficient amount of fresh water, so much so that the sailors of the Ming Dynasty even I brought a lot of soybeans, saying that after I got tired of eating canned beans, I used these soybeans to sprout bean sprouts to quench my cravings.

The Spanish sailors who shuttled between the Pacific and the Atlantic gnawing on maggot-infested bread and dried meat cried silently...

(End of this chapter)