Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 106 Desperate Situation!!
The next day, Zhu Changgan came to the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

"Your Majesty, please pay homage to your Majesty!"

"Long live your Majesty, long live your Majesty!"

Zhu Changgan asked everyone to stand up, "Thank you for your hard work, my dear ministers!"

"For the Great Ming, for Your Majesty, I will never decline even if it means a thousand deaths..." Xu Ci kowtowed again.

Over the past two days, the Anti-Corruption Bureau has been divided into two shifts, settling the accounts of the six departments day and night.

They do not simply check the accounts, but re-enter and re-check the accounts.

Zhu Changgan even informed Xu Cifu and others about the double-entry bookkeeping method, and the teachers and students of the Imperial Academy of the Ming Dynasty quickly understood the principle.

The accounting method adopted by the Ming Dynasty was still the unilateral accounting method, that is, to record delayed subjects and single accounts. It was simple but incomplete.

Double-entry bookkeeping is different. For every economic transaction, it must be classified and recorded in two or more accounts in an interconnected manner.

The accounting method is not only comprehensive and clear, but also classifies and records the relationship between two or more accounts.

For example, the records of grain and salaries paid by Northern Zhili by the Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty could not be completely counted. We also had to obtain the expenditure accounts of Northern Zhili to see whether the accounts on both sides were consistent and where they were inconsistent.
It can directly and clearly reflect the ins and outs of each business.

Although it is a bit troublesome, it can help to better sort out the accounts of the six departments.

"How's the check going?"

Xu Cifu handed the list of names that had been confiscated to Wang Chengen, "Your Majesty, from the current accounts, there are already people who have been corrupt and perverted the law..."

Zhu Changgan took a look and said in a cold voice: "Leave it to Ma Shiwei. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, he should be arrested and his property confiscated."

The ICAC has the power to inspect but not the power to enforce the law.

In order to prevent the disorderly expansion of the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Zhu Changgan issued an edict that every time officials were searched, the Integrity Bureau, the East Factory, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard had to be present.

At the same time, the Independent Commission Against Corruption has the right to inspect the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard also have the right to supervise the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Xu Cifu requested again, "Your Majesty, now that the accounts of the six ministries have been roughly sorted out, the next step is to send people to each province to retrieve the accounts of each province and county." Xu Cifu bowed and replied.

"I request that Your Majesty grant me the authority to serve as imperial envoys and go to various places to check the accounts."

Zhu Changgan nodded, "Of course I will grant you the order to check the accounts in various places. The Jinyiwei and Dongchang will send people to assist you to go to various places."

"Let's start from Northern Zhili."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

There are two insurmountable obstacles in saving the Ming Dynasty: one is military power, and the other is financial power.

Now that the military power in the capital area is in our hands, it is time to slowly take back the financial power.

Aren't you guys going on strike with me? You're just sitting at the table and not playing?

Coincidentally, what I am best at is flipping the table.

……

The following morning, troops were mobilized within the imperial city.

The Eastern Depot, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and even the Five Cities Military Command all became busy and began to investigate and confiscate corrupt officials in the six ministries.

At the home of Wu Yigui, the head of the Ministry of Revenue.

Dozens of people were driven to the backyard by officers and soldiers, and official Wu Yigui had been taken under control.

"Sir, after a preliminary count, Wu Yigui's family has 7 taels of silver, 32 taels of gold, 78 strings of copper coins, a silver shop, pieces of beautiful jade, two gold-inlaid Ruyi, tables of silver bowls and plates, pairs of gold chopsticks, Duan inkstones, silk..."

A young eunuch from the East Factory found a few women from the backyard and said, "Sir, we found a few young girls from Huaiyang in the backyard."

Xu Cifu and several other people from the Independent Commission Against Corruption looked at Wu Yigui and scolded him:
"A traitor, how could he have made so much money?"

"You even keep several geishas?"

"You have made the people of Huguang lose all their face!" a scholar from Huguang cursed, "Now that the Ming Times is circulated throughout the country, your homeland will soon know about your corrupt behavior."

"I should ask His Majesty to restore the skinning method of the Taizu era..."

Wu Yigui, the head of the Ministry of Revenue, trembled all over and collapsed to the ground. "I want to see His Majesty, I want to see His Majesty."

Gao Yushun slapped him in the face, "See His Majesty? What did you do that you think His Majesty doesn't know?"

"Your food and drink were all given by the emperor, and your land in your hometown was also given by the emperor, but you are still not satisfied and you are reaching into the national treasury?"

"The Ming Dynasty was eaten up by a bunch of parasites like you..."

……

In the capital, people were discussing the issue, but they were also actively cooperating with the emperor's orders.

The Ming Times also wrote very clearly: the price of rice and vegetables remained unchanged, and there was sufficient supply... During the war between the imperial court and the Tartars, the people were not allowed to leave the city.

Today's capital city has already been firmly controlled by the East Depot, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Five Cities Military Affairs Department.

Except for the people from these three yamen, everyone else is allowed to enter but not leave.

However, people from the Independent Commission Against Corruption have already set out quietly to prevent civil servants from passing on information to other places.

Since we are going to investigate, we must use drastic measures.

Zhu Changgan did not want to experience the lesson of failing to kill the snake but instead suffering from its harm.

His original intention in establishing the Integrity Bureau was not just to investigate a few corrupt officials, but to reform the civil service from top to bottom in preparation for the subsequent internal turmoil.

Zhu Changgan, who came out of the Anti-Corruption Department, came to the Arms Department again.

Song Yingxing went to cultivate sweet potatoes, but he still held the position of Si Zheng. Now the person in charge of the Bingzhangsi is Wang Hui.

"Your Majesty, I have invented a throwing cannon!" Wang Hui enthusiastically demonstrated his so-called throwing cannon to the emperor.

Compared with Song Yingxing, who is obsessed with data, Wang Hui is characterized by his wild imagination. He was a Jinshi in the second year of the Tianqi reign, and had served as a prosecutor, governor, Censor of Jianshi, and Liaohai search military affairs.

He was one of the few people who had opened his eyes to the world, and he and Xu Guangqi were both famous for combining Chinese and Western cultures.

He spent almost his entire life on the research, discovery and improvement of technology, and compiled more than ten books, including "Two Principles", "Explanation of Xueyong Book", "Illustrated Explanation of Strange Instruments", "Western Confucian Ears and Eyes", and "Extreme Theory of Fearing Heaven and Loving People".

He is most famous for inventing something similar to a steam engine. Thanks to his in-depth communication with Western missionaries, Wang Zheng's technical level was almost on the same starting line as that of Western technology at the time.

Shells and projectiles are produced non-stop, and the mold group is even set up as a separate organization to design and improve them.

The data-focused theories left by Song Yingxing are still there, but Wang Hui has brought more changes.

"Isn't this a hand grenade?" Zhu Changgan laughed after reading it, "This is too big. It's hard for the soldiers to hold it and throw it out. Moreover, it will take a long time to explode after being thrown out. The enemy will have already run away."

Zhu Changgan discussed the theory of hand grenades with Wang Hui.

As for the explosion part, the safety helmet, the delay part in the middle... and the problem of the six seconds from lighting the fuse to throwing it at the enemy's feet.

"You can add a handle at the back, which will make it easier to throw. After it lands, it will not roll easily, so you can attack the enemy more accurately..." Zhu Changgan told Wang Hui what he understood about grenades.

He was also explained how the grenade shell was made into a pineapple shape, and how it would produce fragments of uniform size when it exploded, thus causing great damage to the enemy.

Wang Hui was very excited after hearing this, and asked the clerk beside him to write it down immediately.

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing. After the Yongwei Camp and the Jing Camp came back last time, they hoped that the Arms Department would design a short-range, high-damage firearm."

Wang Hui took out a huge musket. "Your Majesty, please look, this kind of musket is held by a warrior in the army."

The caliber was three times larger than that of an ordinary musket, and it was difficult for him to hold it alone.

Wang Hui took out a large paper shell bullet and said, "This has twice the amount of gunpowder, so the bullet has shrunk, but the amount of bullet has increased by a full twenty times."

Zhu Changgan looked at the design and couldn't help but laugh. Isn't this just a shotgun!
We really should not underestimate the ancients. Their wisdom was only limited by the times, and it was not weaker than the IQ of later generations.

Zhu Changgan then visited the production workshop of the Bingzhang Division.

"Your Majesty, long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty!"

"His Majesty……"

The craftsmen knelt down one by one and saluted the emperor.

Today, the Armory has more than 5,600 craftsmen. Compared with the Armory before the war, the number and scale of the department has expanded by thousands of people.

"Are you guys tired?"

But after waiting for a long time, no one dared to answer, which made Zhu Changgan a little embarrassed. Wang Chengen then kicked a craftsman beside him and said, "The emperor is asking you, just tell the truth."

The craftsman then replied: "Your Majesty, we are tired, but we are happy because we have money to spend."

"We earn more in one month now than we did in the previous two months!"

As he said this, the craftsman grinned from the bottom of his heart and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty... Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty..."

A group of craftsmen shouted along.

All the craftsmen volunteered to work day and night to continuously improve and produce artillery and flintlock rifles. Many craftsmen even preferred to work the night shift, just because the night shift salary was 20% higher than the day shift.

In order to motivate the staff of the Armory, Zhu Changgan paid them every ten days.

They only gave out as much as they were supposed to, and there was no deduction. People from the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard came to distribute the money.

Without going through the arms department, the quality of the arms department was raised to a higher level. Because all the cannons, flintlock rifles, projectiles, etc. produced had to go through quality inspection and be divided into A, B, C, and D grades. A grade was paid at full salary, B grade was paid at half salary, C grade was paid at no salary, and D grade was deducted.

In the words of the craftsmen, that is not working for others.

That's for yourself.

If they do a good job, they will get more money. Why don’t they do better?
If you act dishonestly and cunningly, not only will you not make any money in the end, you may also owe money to the Military Affairs Bureau. If you don't pay it back, the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot will not be easy to deal with.

……

At this time, the Xuanda troops led by Lu Xiangsheng, as well as the troops from Jinzhou, Guanning, Ji and Liao, joined together and arrived at a place more than 30 miles north of Tianjin.

A skirmish broke out with the Qing troops who were blocking the area.

They also carried cannons, but they were red cannons.

"fire!"

Boom boom boom...

However, this type of cannon would misfire after just one round because the cannon needed to be cleaned, refilled, and adjusted again.

The Qing cavalry had already charged over, attacking this side like a torrent of black mass.

Lu Xiangsheng raised his command flag with a gloomy face, signaling all the cavalry to prepare for the charge.

The soldiers from Xuanda, Ji and Liao towns were all terrified at this moment and clenched their swords and guns tightly.

Although they had heard that the Ming army had defeated the Manchu Tartars, when they actually faced them now, they suddenly realized the fear that came from the bottom of their hearts and they could not get rid of it no matter what.

"Virtue!" Lu Xiangsheng looked at the appearance of one of his personal soldiers and couldn't help cursing, and kicked him over.

He shouted loudly to the brothers around him: "His Majesty said, one Tartar head, fifty taels!"

"For those killed in battle, we will provide a pension of 150 taels of silver and three generations of tax exemption... Let the Tartars know that our Ming army is not a coward!"

As Lu Xiangsheng shouted, everyone's faces still showed some fear, but also a bit more determination.

"Dry!"

"Anyway, if you die, you'll get a pension, and if you don't die, you'll be rich and prosperous!"

"If a person dies and a bird looks up to the sky, he will not die for tens of thousands of years!"

A man should die with dignity. A bird pointing toward the sky means its face is upturned, and it should die brightly and gloriously.

"Kill! If you are afraid of death, just be a ghost!"

"kill!"

The roar of tens of thousands of people crossed the battlefield like thunder, shocking the momentum of the charging Tatars.

The troops on the left wing were leading the charge. When Beile Dudu heard the roar, his scalp went numb. "Could it be the same Ning army again?"

But he quickly thought, "It shouldn't be. The spies reported that the Ming army has returned to Beijing... and the density of their artillery is not the same as before."

"Kill!" Belle Dudu shouted.

Tens of thousands of cavalrymen on both sides charged at almost the same time. The sound of horse hooves was deafening, and the earth was shaking.

If someone looks from a distance, the ground lines look like two black lava lines, rushing forward like a flood breaking through a dam.

One on the left and one on the right, they collided with each other like iron pendants.

Rushing in the front were Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army. Each of them was brave and determined, and ruthless in their attacks.

The Tianxiong Army, Lu Xiangsheng's direct line, was one of the strongest armies in the late Ming Dynasty.

The strength of the Tianxiong Army lies not only in the fact that it is composed of fellow villagers, friends, brothers, and family members, but also in the fact that Lu Xiangsheng always leads the charge in every battle and shares the joys and sorrows with the soldiers.

"When the army was deprived of food for three days, Xiangsheng refused to eat or drink anything. He won the hearts of the soldiers and was always successful in battle."

It is said that there was a time when the army was short of food and the soldiers had not eaten for three days. Lu Xiangsheng also had not eaten for three days and did not even drink water.

Often the death of one person in battle can arouse the anger of most people, so the fighting spirit is extremely strong, and once they encounter the enemy, they will hold on and fight to the end.

However, after Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army had gone through a fierce battle with Gao Yingxiang and fought hard against the Qing Dynasty, there were actually less than 7,000 Tianxiong Army soldiers left in his hands, many of whom were old, weak and disabled.

When the armies of the two sides collided violently, the Tianxiong Army was fighting hard against the Manchu Tartars.

The soldiers from Datong and Shanxi in the rear had not received any training. At this moment, they were all terrified, their bodies were trembling, they were huddled together, shouting, and starting to riot.

Once the war begins, it will be like a lion fighting a rabbit, with all your might.

This scene suddenly happened in the back, making Lu Xiangsheng furious, "Push forward, push forward..."

No matter how he shouted or waved flags, he was still unable to stop the defeat of the troops in Datong and Shanxi.

They actually ran back.

The Manchu Tartars waved their scimitars like a rushing river, drowning the Ming army and chopping their necks.

Seeing this, Beile Dudu excitedly drew out his sword and fiercely pinched the horse's belly, "Is this the familiar Ming army? Erlang, it's time to make achievements and wash away the humiliation."

"kill!"

"Swish, swish, swish..."

The Manchu Tartars were unparalleled in cavalry and archery. Countless arrows fell into the Ming army, and a large number of them fell at once.

These soldiers from Datong and Shanxi were like wheat, being cut down. They cried and screamed, but the Qing cavalry had no intention of letting them go.

Instead, they bit them like hungry wolves and harvested them madly.

Lu Xiangsheng shouted until his throat was hoarse, but it was of no avail. He could only lead the Tianxiong Army to charge towards the enemy.

In war, the goal is always to attack the enemy's weaknesses.

Achieve the best combat-damage ratio.

Therefore, Beile Dudu ordered the Qing army to target the fleeing Datong and Shanxi troops, and wait until they were completely defeated before dealing with the Tianxiong Army.

The Tianxiong Army's cavalry consisted of no more than 3,000 men, and they were simply unable to take care of both ends.

Under this massacre, the soldiers from Datong and Shanxi were like headless flies, hiding and running around everywhere, but unable to escape.

Because the Tartar cavalry were very good at fighting this kind of battle, their cavalry marched in a cross-section, like driving cattle, making them run back and forth, but the route had long been cordoned off by the Tartars. The Ming army ran and ran only to find that they had nowhere to run.

Belle Dudu grinned smugly, "It feels so good, I finally got rid of this anger!"

"Kill me!"

……

On the battlefield, Ming soldiers fell to the ground one after another, and fresh lives fell every second.

In the wilderness, in the river, and on the ridges of the fields, the broken corpses of the Ming army were everywhere.

The earth changed color, the river changed color, and even the grass and trees were dyed red.

Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army had also engaged in several charges with the Qing cavalry, and had lost more than half of its troops, but was still struggling.

He looked at the soldiers behind him. Each of them had a fierce look in his eyes and was ready to die, but his heart was bleeding.

Just now, one of his cousins ​​also died in the charge. He was chopped on the back of the neck by the Manchu Tartars. His head rolled directly to the ground and he died with his eyes open.

Lu Xiangsheng's Adam's apple rolled, his lips cracked, and he said bitterly: "After all, there is still a gap between the Ming army and the Tartars!"

But then another question arose.

"How did the Yongwei Battalion, the Beijing Battalion, and the White Spear Soldiers fight?"

Beile Dudu in the distance was also staring at the group of Ming troops and couldn't help but sigh: "The Ming troops in front should be the elite of the Ming Dynasty!"

A Jiala Zhangjing beside him couldn't help but say: "My Lord, how about we persuade them to surrender?"

Belle Dudu shook his head. “If we hadn’t experienced the previous battle, we might have been able to persuade them to surrender, but now that they have grown to this size, we can only eliminate the trouble forever by killing them all.”

"kill!"

Boom~~
Suddenly, the earth began to shake again.

Dust was flying in the distance.

Immediately afterwards, a group of soldiers suddenly appeared from behind the Qing soldiers.

People were moving around so fast that you couldn't see the end.

Lu Xiangsheng was filled with grief. It was over, it was completely over this time. He couldn't defeat this group of Qing soldiers alone, and now the other side had reinforcements coming. Wait... he saw the enemy's flag.

"People from the Yongwei Camp and the Jing Camp?"

Beile Dudu took a glance and thought at first that it was the Qing army coming, but then he suddenly shrank back.

His pupils were dilating and he felt all the blood in his body rushing into his heart. However, his heart couldn't bear the heavy burden and squeezed all the blood out with all its might, and his Adam's apple rolled violently.

“Is… is it that group of Ming troops?!”

……

　A great chapter! Thanks!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)