Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

In early November, Zhu Jing'an led the team back to the capital.

The counterinsurgency work was successfully completed.

The long-blocked canal was successfully opened.

Following this, the price of food in the capital dropped immediately, to normal levels or even lower.

Because after the canal was reopened, many grains that had been blocked for a long time were transported into the capital through the canal.

If there is more food, food prices will naturally fall.

After Zhu Jing'an returned to Beijing, he immediately ordered the army to repair in the camp outside the capital. He also ordered the officials in the capital to prepare a reward of wine and meat for the Ming army who returned from the expedition with a great victory.

And he immediately entered the city and palace to meet Zhu Jianzhuo.

Father and son sat opposite each other in the imperial study room.

Zhu Jianzhuo said with a slightly gloomy expression.

"Rakshasa and Mongolia formed a coalition and sent a hundred thousand people to march south. The Battle of Suiyuan broke out. Jing'an should already know about this, right?"

Among these 100,000 people, 10,000 were Tsarist Russian soldiers, and the remaining 90,000 were Mongols in southern and northern Mongolia.

This number is the news returned by the Ming army's spies on the grassland. Even if there is a deviation, it is still very different.

Zhu Jing'an nodded slightly.

"Returning to my father, I have indeed received the news."

When Zhu Jianzhuo heard this, he said with a solemn expression.

"Suiyuan City is under siege. No news has been sent for a long time. I don't know what is going on in Suiyuan City now."

Since he had not received news that Suiyuan City was safe for a long time, Zhu Jianzhuo would inevitably be worried.

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he said very confidently.

"Father, don't worry too much and have enough confidence in our Ming Dynasty soldiers!"

"Many times, no news is the best news!"

To put it bluntly, once Suiyuan falls, the coalition forces of Tsarist Russia and Mongolia will definitely take advantage of the trend and move south.

When the time comes, Datong will be the first to bear the brunt, and there is no way there will be no news there.

But there has been no news from Datong, which indirectly shows that Suiyuan City is now safe.

At the very least, the anti-Ming coalition forces would not be able to capture Suiyuan City in a short period of time.

Zhu Jianzhuo's expression improved slightly after hearing this, and he asked immediately.

"What is Jing'an going to do next? How to deal with the threat from the coalition forces?"

Zhu Jing'an pondered for a while, and then spoke.

"Two words."

"Wait! Check!"

"When spring comes next year and the weather gets warmer, I will lead my army north to the grassland to seek a decisive battle with the coalition forces."

"Before the decisive battle begins, our Ming Dynasty will also intensify the inspection of smuggling and severely punish profiteers who smuggle materials outside the customs to ensure the effectiveness of our Ming Dynasty's economic sanctions against Tsarist Russia."

Unlike fighting within the pass, which can be fought at any time of the year, when fighting outside the pass, winter is not suitable for mobilizing troops.

At the very least, large-scale mobilization of troops is not appropriate.

The reason why Zhu Jing'an concluded that the coalition forces would fight decisively with the Ming Dynasty instead of going around in circles with the Ming army on the grassland.

It's because he knows the intensity and weight of Ming's current economic sanctions.

Tsarist Russia urgently needs to open up the situation on the battlefield as soon as possible, and then force the Ming army to lift their economic blockade.

This was used to recover the losses caused by cutting off trade with the East.

The longer the war drags on, the greater the losses to Tsarist Russia.

The Ming Dynasty could drag it down, but Tsarist Russia couldn't.

If it really drags on for a long time, there is a high probability that Ekaterina will possess Emperor Xuanzong and Chongzhen of the Tang Dynasty and issue an imperial edict to force Petroyev to actively seek a decisive battle with the Ming army.

Besides, I'm not afraid even if I have to drag Zhu Jing'an away.

At worst, the Ming army could just stick to the nine sides and wait for the opportunity to counterattack.

How difficult was it for the Ming army to replenish supplies to the Nine-sided Great Wall from within the pass?
How difficult was it for Tsarist Russia to obtain enough supplies to support a hundred thousand troops in the bitter cold steppes?
There's no comparison.

When Tsarist Russia couldn't hold on any longer and wanted to withdraw its troops, the Ming army could just continue to pursue them.

Anyway, as time goes by, the progress of industrialization continues to strengthen, and the national power of the Ming Dynasty continues to take off...

Let’s talk about economic data from a straightforward point of view. According to statistics from the Ministry of Household Affairs last year, excluding windfalls such as war seizures and confiscation of homes, the Ming Dynasty’s annual income, after being converted into physical goods such as gold, silver, copper coins, grain, cloth, tea, and salt, totaled approximately 125 million. 1.76 million silver dollars.

And this year, it's only November, and Ming's annual income has already reached 133.15 million silver dollars.

By the end of the year, when the annual income reaches 135 million silver dollars, it will not be a big problem.

It is worth mentioning that most of the increase in annual income comes from industry, commerce and maritime trade.

Therefore, what Daming is least afraid of now is delaying time.

Because the longer time passes, the stronger Ming's national power will become.

To put it bluntly, if the decisive battle takes place ten years later, Ming Dynasty will be able to kill the so-called anti-Ming coalition forces even by throwing money at them.

When Zhu Jiazhuo heard this, he couldn't help but sighed heavily.

"It seems that the matter of my Zen position can only be postponed."

Over the past year, Zhu Jianzhuo's health has become worse and worse, and he really wants to abdicate.

Zhu Jing'an heard this and said with a helpless smile.

"The world is in chaos, and my sons and ministers are helpless. Father, please bear with me."

Zhu Jiazhuo gave a helpless smile and said.

"Hey, I just want to live in Zen and retire, why is it so difficult?"

Zhu Jing'an stroked the short, stiff beard on his chin and spoke.

"After this battle, the Ming Dynasty should have no external worries, and it's almost time to start rectifying the internal troubles."

For example, the chieftains in the southwest and the landlords, officials and gentry in the Central Plains. To put it bluntly, these are potential threats to the Ming Dynasty's rule.

In fact, the Zhu family and his son had been thinking about carrying out internal reforms this year.

But a labor rebellion finally woke them up.

The father and son realized what a dying counterattack by an interest group is.

It also allowed them to see the difficulties of reform!
You know, the Daming Railway has not yet been completed, and the abolition of water transportation is not even a thing.

According to the imperial court's plan, it is certain that roads and rivers will be developed simultaneously within the next ten years.

But the Cao workers had already rebelled.

If the Ming Dynasty carries out drastic reforms internally, I am afraid there will be no shortage of local rebellions and resistance.

When the time comes, it will be necessary to use the army to suppress it!
The prerequisite for using the army to suppress internal rebellion is to first resolve external worries.

Zhu Jing'an understands that without a stable external environment, reform is not an easy task.

Zhu Jiazhuo nodded and said.

"What the prince said is true, but remember one thing: running a big country is like cooking a small dish. You cannot stir-fry it over a high fire, you can only stew it slowly. In the same way, when it comes to reform, you must not rush it too hastily, but you must be cautious."

Zhu Jing'an heard this and nodded to express his understanding.

At this moment, there was a noise outside. First there was a knock on the door outside the imperial study room, and then there was Yang He's announcement.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please report to Nanjing urgently."

The Zhu family father and son looked at each other, Zhu Jiazhuo cleared his throat and spoke. "Come in!"

After his words fell, there was a creak of the door opening, and Yang He walked in from the outside.

Yang He lowered his head, walked to the desk in small steps, raised the report in his hands above his head, and then spoke.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness the Crown Prince, this is a report sent to the capital by fast horse from the Royal Academy of Sciences of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing."

Hearing this, Zhu Jianzhuo showed interest, took the report from Yang He, and started to read it.

As he read through the pages, Zhu Jianzhuo's brows couldn't help but beat, and a very obvious smile appeared on his face.

He said while handing the report in his hand to Zhu Jing'an.

"Let's take a look, there's a surprise."

"The Royal Academy of Sciences of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing has made another major practical breakthrough."

"What a joy, what a congratulation!"

When Zhu Jing'an heard this, he showed an interested expression.

He took the report handed over by Zhu Jianzhuo and started reading it.

As he read through it, his face showed obvious joy.

Because, the Royal Academy of Sciences of the Ming Dynasty reported that wired telegraph technology has made a major breakthrough.

Telegraph transmission from Nanjing to Jiangyin has now been realized.

And the problem of signal distortion has also been initially solved.

Although the generator technology is still in its infancy and the voltage and voltage are not stable, a signal relay station needs to be added every dozens of kilometers to ensure the clarity of the signal.

Well, a simple translation means that every tens of kilometers, a telegraph machine needs to be used to retransmit the signal after receiving it to ensure that there will be no deviation in the communication content.

Although this greatly reduces the communication efficiency, it is still many times faster than the fast horses of this era that can deliver messages.

Zhu Jing'an took a deep breath, with an expression full of expectation on his face, and spoke.

"Father, not only the railway network, but now it seems that the laying of the telegraph network should also be put on the agenda."

When Zhu Jianzhuo heard this, he nodded with satisfaction, as if to show his agreement.

Zhu Jing'an on the side showed an expectant expression and spoke.

"Just imagine, assuming that the railway network and telegraph network throughout the Ming Dynasty can be fully paved, if a war breaks out on the border one day, the central court will only need a few hours at most to receive the news."

"Then the imperial court can send orders to summon troops to all parts of the country as quickly as possible through the telegraph network."

"Then, armies from all over the country can get on the train through the railway network, carry the food, grass and weapons needed for combat, and rush directly to the front line from various places."

"In a few days at most, all armies will be able to reach the frontier front lines, and they will be able to start operations directly without any need for repairs..."

"And the enemy probably won't be able to react, and they will face my Ming Dynasty's main army."

"In this way, there will be no more foreign troubles in the Ming Dynasty!"

Listening to Zhu Jing'an's idea, Zhu Jiazhuo couldn't help but show emotion on his face.

This kind of thing can not only be used to deal with foreign enemies.

The same goes for internal counterinsurgency!

The rebels in a certain place have just raised their flags and have not had time to develop and grow. In a few days at most, the imperial court's counter-insurgency army will arrive and directly reduce the dimension and strike.

If this is the case, how can the rebellion become bigger?
However, Zhu Jiazhuo finally spoke helplessly.

"It's not easy either."

"I don't know how much it will cost to lay out the telegraph network."

"But the cost of laying out the railway network is too high."

"Now the imperial court's railway has only just been built to the Hejian Prefecture area, but it has already spent more than fifteen million silver dollars. If we really want to build a railway network that connects all provinces and cities across the country, the imperial government's finances may not be able to afford it. Get up."

The current quotation for railway construction by the Ming Dynasty is almost 1.5 silver dollars per kilometer.

The cost is really not low!
From Beijing to Tianjin, and then from Tianjin to Hejianfu, the distance is almost 400 kilometers.

The reason why it cost more than 15 million silver dollars to build the 400 kilometers of railway.

Mainly because Daming built not a one-way line, but a two-way line in both directions from north to south.

One line goes south and one line goes north to avoid traffic trouble.

If a one-way track is built, the quoted price for four hundred kilometers is about six million silver dollars.

Multiply the double line by two, which is twelve million silver dollars.

The extra three million silver dollars were mainly used to pay the wages of railway workers and their food expenses.

How can I put it, if it were not for the extra three million silver dollars, the Ming court would have carried out such a large-scale construction project, and the people would have been boiling with resentment.

However, precisely because of the investment of three million silver dollars, the Ming Dynasty's large-scale construction projects did not cause public resentment, but instead absorbed a large number of idle labor in society.

It provides jobs for these idle laborers and greatly alleviates social conflicts.

Also, infrastructure boosting the economy is not just talk.

Overall, the money spent is worth it.

How can I put it, the people actually do not resent the imperial court's large-scale construction projects.

What they resented was that the imperial court conscripted corvées, made them work for free, and then built large-scale construction projects.

As long as the wages are paid, the imperial court can repair whatever it likes, and the people don't care.

Zhu Jing'an heard this and said with a smile.

"From what I can tell you, my father is really worrying too much."

"This railway line was built not only for military use, but also for civilian use when the army and the court don't use it."

"Whether you are pulling people or goods, you can earn income. At least this income will be enough to meet the daily maintenance needs of the railway."

"Besides, after the railway is repaired, it will definitely drive economic development along the railway line, and economic development will definitely increase the court's annual income."

"This railway is not a one-time deal. Once it is repaired, it will last for at least a few decades. Even if the return on investment is slower, it will be possible to return the original investment sooner or later."

How should I put it? Zhu Jing'an has never heard of a country that failed to repair its railways.

Even in the late Qing Dynasty in the original historical line, the officials of the Qing Dynasty were so corrupt, but the railways were still making money.

Otherwise, there would not have been so many road protection movements in various places.

Also, the reason why the cost of railway construction for the Ming Dynasty is so high is that most of the costs are on the rails.

The main reason is that the coal and iron industries in Beizhi and Shanxi have not been developed on a large scale.

Most of the coal and iron industries currently under construction in Ming Dynasty are only initially put into operation, and even more are still under construction.

This also led to the high cost of rail tracks required for Ming Dynasty's railway procurement.

In the future, when the coal and iron production capacity of Beizhi Shanxi is fully developed and all major coal and iron industries begin large-scale production, the cost of railway tracks will inevitably be reduced.

By then, the cost of building the railway will naturally not be as high as it is now.

Hearing this, Zhu Jianzhuo nodded in approval.

"That's true."

"What my son said makes sense."

"Railway construction is a national policy of the Ming Dynasty. Even if there are many difficulties and dangers, it must be implemented."

As if he remembered something, Zhu Jing'an turned to Yang He and said.

"Yang He, go and reply to Nanjing now and ask the Ming Royal Institute of Science to send a physical telegraph machine to Beijing as soon as possible..." (End of Chapter)