Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 413: Crackdown on Illegal Churches
After the meeting, Zhu Youjian left Yuan Keli and said:
"Commander-in-Chief Sun is still a little too ambitious!"

"I just don't know if the troops in Liaodong can support his ambitions?"

"First, let him select a thousand brave warriors from the Liaodong troops, and let me and the people of the world see how many brave warriors there are in Liaodong!"

Distrust of the Liaodong troops was also the reason why Zhu Youjian rejected Sun Chengzong's plan to rebuild Dalinghhe City and chose to build a small fortress instead.

Since the Jianlu started their uprising, Liaodong troops have been defeated repeatedly. The battles of Ningyuan and Ningjin, which could barely be called victories, were just about defending the city.

Zhu Youjian believed that the Liaodong troops did not yet have the ability to engage in a large-scale field battle with the Jianlu, so he naturally declined the offer to build Dalingh City and trigger a war between Liaodong and the Jianlu.

His idea was to make use of Huo Weihua, a remnant of the eunuch party, and give him a thousand soldiers to see if he had the ability to build a fort.

If he succeeds in building a fort in Dalingh River, he will be promoted and allowed to build more forts in the Dalingh River area.

If the fortification failed, Huo Weihua would die, but the loss of one thousand soldiers and horses was not a big loss to the Ming Dynasty.

Yuan Keli and other Privy Councilors actually had the same idea, but Li Banghua and other Donglin Party members did not want Huo Weihua, a remnant of the eunuch party, to make any contributions, so they opposed the use of Huo Weihua. Finally, they reluctantly agreed to build the fort at the same time.

Yuan Keli and Sun Chengzong were old friends, so naturally he had to defend him. Upon hearing the emperor's words, Yuan Keli said:

"Liaodong has 130,000 soldiers and horses, and there must be men who dare to fight."

"Your Majesty, rest assured. Commander Sun will do his best."

Zhu Youjian nodded, knowing that there were many soldiers in Liaodong whose families had been destroyed by the Jianlu, and these people were full of hatred for the Jianlu, and they could still be used. So he gave the order:

"The one thousand brave warriors recruited were all granted the status of sergeants."

"If they die in battle or hold out for more than a year, they will be granted hereditary military service and at least one li of land."

"Tell them that our Ming Dynasty will not mistreat meritorious soldiers."

"When the land is divided in the future, they will have priority in choosing the land."

Zhu Youjian was generous in rewarding the Liaodong troops, hoping to stimulate their fighting spirit.

In order to gain their trust, Zhu Youjian even asked the Liaodong Military Guard to issue land certificates, which were notarized and filed by the Shuntian Bank Notary Office in Liaodong, to reassure these daredevil men.

Even if they died in battle, Shuntian Bank would still pay the money to their families.

After we recover Liaodong in the future, we will be able to redeem the corresponding area of ​​land.

After hearing this, Yuan Keli praised it highly and realized the reason why the emperor implemented the well-field system outside the Great Wall.

If not, how could the court mobilize the soldiers' morale without spending a penny?

After discussing the issue of land certificates, Zhu Youjian decided to try it out in Liaodong. He took out a book and said:

"This book, The Theory of Telescope, was presented by the chief archbishop of the Nestorian Church, Johann Adam Schall von Bell."

"It introduces some knowledge about telescopes, especially the Galileo telescope."

"If you can 'hold it to look at the moon, it will be a thousand times greater than usual'."

"If this kind of telescope is used on a signal tower, it is possible to observe a signal tower 50 to 60 miles away."

"I have arranged for the craftsmen of the Shaofu Temple to try to make it to see the cost and effect, and whether it can be promoted."

"In the future, the fortresses in the Daling River area may not be limited to one fort every ten miles. Fortresses can be built in selected locations based on the terrain."

Yuan Keli was very happy to hear this, because it would be easier to arrange the fortresses in the Daling River area. Even only three or five forts were needed to form a whole.

When the Jianlu attacked, these forts could transmit signals to each other. If the Jianlu could not attack all the forts at the same time, those forts that had not encountered the Jianlu could send troops to harass them. Even when the Jianlu had few troops, they could attack them in a combined force.

Any incident in the fortress could be quickly reported to the rear so that troops could be deployed and decisions on how to provide assistance could be made.

Thinking of the distance between Jinzhou and Dalinghe City, Yuan Keli had an idea and said:

"Jinzhou is only thirty miles away from Dalinghe City. If we use this kind of telescope to build signal towers in both places, we can quickly transmit signals without going through relay towers."

"In this case, rebuilding Dalinghe City is not impossible."

"As long as it is successfully repaired, Dalinghe City and Ningjin can be connected."

Support for Sun Chengzong's plan to build Dalingh City was renewed.

Zhu Youjian chuckled and said:
"It's not that Dalinghe City cannot be repaired, it's just that it can't be repaired now."

"First, build a few forts to prove the feasibility of building a defense line in Daling River."

"After these fortresses are stabilized, we will decide whether to rebuild Dalinghe City based on the situation."

"Yuan Qing can write a letter to General Sun to explain and tell him about the court's arrangements."

"Let him make an overall plan for the fortresses in the Daling River area."

As he spoke, he reminded Yuan Keli:
"Now Yuan Qing is the Privy Councilor and is responsible for mobilizing troops across the country."

"Remember to set rules for the local authorities, so that they must report promptly when they mobilize 1,000 or 3,000 troops."

"We cannot let the local governments lead us and change the overall plan."

"Next year we will implement the Four Squares and Six Corners Plan, so it is not a good time to build Dalinghe City."

"Don't let the battle plan in Liaodong affect the overall situation."

The officials of the Privy Council did not want to see a small part of the city affect the overall situation. This was also the reason why Sun Chengzong's plan to rebuild Dalinghe City was opposed by the Privy Council officials such as Yang Sichang.

Yuan Keli may have only felt that something was wrong before, but now that the emperor had awakened him, he realized that the power of the Privy Council was in conflict with the front-line generals.

This conflict may seem small now, but we need to nip it in the bud and establish new rules.

With the construction of the armboard communication system and the pigeon system, the Privy Council will have stronger control over local troops in the future. Various related systems must be determined when the Privy Council is established.

He finally understood why the emperor kept him behind after the meeting.

This touched him deeply, and he said sincerely:

"Your Majesty has taught me with all your heart, and I am deeply grateful to you."

"I will do my best to build a good Privy Council for Your Majesty."

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, still feeling reassured about Yuan Keli.

Having worked together for more than a year, he knew that although Yuan Keli had some civil servant-like persistence, he was also able to cooperate and was very capable.

If not for this, he would not have given Yuan Keli the power of de facto prime minister before Han Yu entered the court, and now he also serves as the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

He even thought about promoting Yuan Keli to the position of Grand Secretary and making him the Prime Minister in the future.

However, the convention that only Hanlin scholars could enter the cabinet was difficult to break, and he did not want the cabinet to be too powerful and be lifted up by Yuan Keli, a capable minister. So he gave up this idea and let Yuan Keli form the Privy Council.

At this moment, he just felt that there were too few capable ministers like Yuan Keli, so many things had to be left to him.

Thinking of the White Lotus Rebellion that Yuan Keli had quelled, Zhu Youjian said:
"Yuan Qing once suppressed the White Lotus Rebellion in Shandong, so he should know the harm that some folk churches can cause."

"For this religious conference, I have asked the Jinyiwei Internal Affairs Department to conduct a survey of the churches in the Shuntian Prefecture area."

"Most of them obeyed the imperial court and were willing to join the religious association organized by the Taichang Temple."

"But there are still some who are still stubborn and spread religion in secret."

"They even openly violated the ban and spread the White Lotus Sect, the Wuwei Sect, the Hongyang Sect and other sects."

"I plan to organize another operation just like the one I did last year to crack down on bandits."

"The Anti-Rebellion Committee chaired by Yuan Qing will be responsible for preventing unrest."

Zhu Youjian originally paid no attention to the illegal sects, because in his impression, apart from the White Lotus Rebellion during the Tianqi period, there were no major religious disturbances in the late Ming Dynasty.

However, after the religious conference was held, Jinyiwei discovered some illegal sects. The briefings passed on to him made him very worried.

The White Lotus Sect, which has always been a rebellious sect, needs no introduction. The Wuwei Sect, also known as the Luo Sect, was originally a sect supported by the imperial court to fight against the White Lotus Sect. Now it has become similar to the White Lotus Sect, advocating "True Vacuum Hometown, No Birth Parents", and was banned in the 44th year of the Wanli reign.

The situation of the Hongyang Sect was similar. This sect preached that "the red sun is over and the white sun will be born", which reminded Zhu Youjian of the Taiping Dao's "the blue sky is dead and the yellow sky will be established."

Its spread is not as wide as Wuweijiao, but it has a great influence among eunuchs and other dignitaries. It was also banned by the court for this reason, and is now spread secretly.

The convening of the religious conference gradually exposed these sects that were secretly spreading in the capital.

Zhu Youjian had been making a lot of moves on religion in the past year. He was worried that these people would take advantage of loopholes in the imperfect theory to start a rebellion, so he wanted to organize a preventive strike against them.

This time, the Jinyiwei was still the main force in the operation. However, in order to prevent unrest, Zhu Youjian decided to let the Anti-Rebellion Committee take charge. Once unrest occurred, troops would be dispatched immediately to suppress it.

Yuan Keli listened to the emperor's arrangement and realized the importance of the matter. He was very clear about the harm of these illegal churches. So he accepted the task and asked:
"Some sects have involved other places. Should we attack them together?"

"I am afraid that after the action in the capital, those people will start a rebellion in the local area."

This was also what Zhu Youjian was worried about, and the reason why he handed the matter over to the Suppression of Rebellion Committee.

After hearing Yuan Keli's question, he immediately said:
"Kill all that can be beaten."

"The leaders of illegal churches must be severely punished."

"All the fools who join the church will be sent to overseas garrisons as military households."

"Use the temples and land they left behind to build a city god temple in the local area."

"Yuan Qing is in charge of this matter. We must ensure that after this crackdown, these illegal churches will lose their space to exist."

"The people in the City God Department should also be more proactive and take back the religious beliefs of the people."

Zhu Youjian centered the rectification of the Ming Dynasty's religious system on the City God Department. The Purple Pavilion Meritorious Officials and the Purple Pavilion Wise Officials were canonized as City Gods and Land Gods, which also made the Ming Dynasty officials very supportive of the City God Department.

This time, he planned to further promote the City God system by cracking down on illegal sects.

To prevent the emergence of new sects among the people due to lack of faith after folk religions have been cracked down.

It can be said that this crackdown was also a struggle for faith, allowing the newly integrated City God system to become more stable and complete among the people.

To this end, Zhu Youjian arranged for Li Biao, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, to join the Anti-Rebellion Committee and asked him to organize the forces of Buddhism, Taoism and other religions to crack down on illegal churches.

Yuan Keli listened to this and thought of something, and said:

"Although there has been no major unrest in Shaanxi this year, there have been small-scale unrest among shareholders, with quite a few outsiders involved."

"I think these people should be the first to be relocated next year."

"After dispersing them, they will gradually move overseas."

Zhu Youjian frowned at this. There are many places in Shaanxi where the Han and the Hu people live together. If the proportion of Han people continues to decline, there is a possibility of unrest in Shaanxi, so he nodded and said:
“These people should indeed be relocated first, and they should also be reformed like the Nestorian Church, and the Taichang Temple should organize an association.”

As he spoke, he thought of something and added:

"Zheng Zhihu came here this time and brought many people's memorials. After seeing the strength of the Dongning Guard, they asked me to send a few thousand households to help them."

"We can mix these people with the Han military households and relocate them to the Nanyang area."

These people were used in Southeast Asia to connect with the local indigenous people through religion.

Now, both the Ming Dynasty and the indigenous people of Southeast Asia want to drive out the Western colonists, and there is a lot of room for cooperation.

After deciding this matter, Zhu Youjian summoned Zheng Zhihu again and told him his decision.

When Zheng Zhihu heard that the emperor was willing to send soldiers from the garrison to them, he was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.

Then the emperor said:

"Each military household must bring ten immigrant households, and each thousand-household unit will have 10,000 households."

"When these people arrive in Nanyang, do you have the confidence to take over?"

Unlike the situation in Dongning, the Ming Dynasty did not have many strongholds in Southeast Asia, and was not even familiar with the climate.

Dongning was able to accept 50,000 immigrants at once because there were already tens of thousands of Han people there. In addition, Dongning's winter climate was also suitable for Shaanxi immigrants to adapt to. They could spend the winter by setting up tents for them.

But it’s different in Nanyang. It’s summer all year round and it rains frequently, so you can’t live in a simple tent.

So Zhu Youjian told them about this matter in advance so that they could be prepared.

Zheng Zhihu was well prepared, patting his chest and saying:

"Your Majesty, rest assured. We have already arranged a camp in Dongning. After they have adapted to the new environment, we will transport them to the islands in the South Seas."

"Let alone a thousand-household office with 10,000 households, even if there are more households, we can still arrange for them."

Zhu Youjian nodded, still believing in these. No matter how bad the situation in Nanyang is, at least people won't freeze to death, and they won't even starve. Those natives who adapt to the climate don't build houses or farm, they can survive by gathering.

Because of this, the natives of Southeast Asia are generally lazy. The city of Batavia built by the Dutch a few years ago was mainly built by the Chinese.

In comparison, the situation in the north is much worse. It is basically impossible to survive without a house in winter.

This is also the reason why he established three vassal states in the Northeast but could only immigrate to Southeast Asia first.

The environment in the Northeast was so bad that we could only build houses and then move the immigrants there.

This has resulted in a small number of immigrants from the Northeast, far less than in Southeast Asia.

(End of this chapter)