Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 415 Chongzhen's Suspicion

Emperor Chongzhen nodded: "Changqing is right. Jiangnan is a major source of tax revenue and cannot be lost. We should protect Jiangnan first, and then it is not too late to save Fujian."

Turning his head, Chongzhen saw Zhang Fengyi still kneeling on the ground and scolded him impatiently, "If you can't come up with any ideas, then just do what I tell you! You heard what I just said, so get back to the Ministry of War and issue the transfer order!"

Zhang Fengyi felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "Your subject takes his leave." He quickly got up and left in a flash.

Wen Tiren was about to return to the cabinet when Emperor Chongzhen stopped him.

"Changqing, wait a moment. What do you think of this memorial?"

Wen Tiren took a memorial from Wang Chengen and saw that it was a memorial from Mu Tianyan, the governor of Guangdong, requesting the establishment of a military garrison in Qiongzhou to defend against foreign and Japanese forces. When this memorial was being drafted by the cabinet, news from Fujian and Zhejiang had not yet arrived. Wen Tiren hadn't thought much of it; he only gave it the green light out of consideration for Lin Tianming, preventing this memorial, which should have been rejected by the cabinet, from dying in its infancy. Now, with the successive reports of emergencies from Kinmen and Taizhou, looking back at this memorial, the coincidence seemed too much, easily leading to unpleasant associations.

However, this idea had to remain a secret and could not be spoken aloud. Wen Tiren replied, "I believe that there is a reason for establishing a military garrison in Qiongzhou. After the death of Zheng Zhilong, the Fujian guerrilla commander, at the hands of the British, the vast coastal frontier was left without anyone to guard it, posing a significant threat. Fortunately, Liu Ye has risen to prominence and, in terms of strength, has taken over Zheng Zhilong's mantle. Relying on him at sea is not unreasonable. However, in the hundreds of years of the Ming Dynasty, apart from Dongjiang Garrison, only nine other border garrisons have been established. Establishing a separate military garrison for coastal defense seems somewhat abrupt. In short, establishing a military garrison has both advantages and disadvantages. We dare not presume to make this decision; it can only be decided by Your Majesty."

This statement covered both sides, ultimately passing the buck to Chongzhen, which was essentially meaningless. Chongzhen was somewhat dissatisfied with this answer, but he didn't react. He simply waved his hand and said, "This matter requires careful consideration. The memorial will remain in the palace for now. You may leave."

After Wen Tiren left, Chongzhen carefully read the memorial again from beginning to end, then put it back on the table and began to think with a frown. He was thinking for more than an hour, and it was already dark when it was almost time for dinner.

Wang Chengen dared not urge Chongzhen, but simply ordered the palace servants to light candles.

The light startled Emperor Chongzhen, who was drowsy in the darkness. He seemed to wake up from a dream and looked around blankly: "What time is it? How come it's already dark?"

“It’s already three-quarters past dusk, Your Majesty, it’s time to serve the meal,” Wang Chengen replied.

"It's already past 5 PM? Hmm... then let's serve the meal."

The imperial kitchen had prepared dinner long ago, and it had already been reheated. As soon as Chongzhen spoke, bowls and plates of all sizes were brought out in a continuous stream.

Emperor Chongzhen was preoccupied and had little appetite. He picked up a few bites of food, but they tasted like cardboard. He pointed to the dishes on the table and instructed Wang Chengen, "Tell the imperial kitchen to prepare fewer dishes in the future. I can't eat this much by myself. Besides, the country is in a difficult situation right now, with wars everywhere, and we need money. We must be thrifty and save every penny we can. Let's start with me."

Looking at Chongzhen's robes, which were patched, Wang Chengen felt a pang of sadness and quietly agreed.

Emperor Chongzhen, oblivious to his emotions, casually tasted a few bites of food before ordering the dinner to be removed. He then stood up, took a few steps, and suddenly asked, "Cheng'en, tell me, is there any connection between this establishment of military garrisons and the urgent calls for help from Zhejiang and Fujian?"

Wang Chengen was taken aback: "This... Your Majesty, this servant is ignorant, please enlighten me, Your Majesty."

"Then let me be more explicit: Were the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang and the Taiwanese barbarians in Fujian orchestrated by Liu Ye to achieve his goal of establishing a stronghold in Qiongzhou?"

Wang Chengen was terrified: "Your Majesty, if Liu Ye has such power to command the British and Japanese at will, that's truly terrifying. I dare not even imagine it..."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded: "That's what I think too. If the Ming Dynasty produces such a treacherous person, the harm he would cause would be no less than that of the Tartars in Liaodong and the bandits in the west, and might even be greater."

Wang Chengen thought carefully for a moment, then tentatively asked, "However, Your Majesty, speaking of which, how could a mere military officer of Qiongzhou Prefecture possess such great abilities? You must know that during the Tianqi era, the Tianqi Emperor fought for three years in Penghu to expel the Japanese, and our dynasty also waged a major war in Kinmen, wasting countless troops, horses, and resources. Not to mention the Japanese, who fought for twenty years during the Jiajing era, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians. Both groups are wolves in sheep's clothing, greedy and cunning. How could they willingly be driven by a mere military officer?"

Emperor Chongzhen let out a long sigh: "They say bystanders see things more clearly. You haven't read the memorials, so your thinking hasn't been disturbed, and your ideas are simpler and purer. It's me who's overthinking things. If the Japanese and the barbarians were easy to manipulate, we wouldn't have had to fight so hard back then. But the timing of this memorial about setting up military garrisons is too coincidental, which makes one suspicious."

"May I ask Your Majesty, which arrived first, this memorial or the news from Zhejiang and Fujian?"

"Naturally, this memorial arrived first..." Chongzhen replied casually, then paused, "So, it's not that the request to establish military garrisons was made after instigating the war, which somewhat clears him of suspicion. Unless he thought it was as easy to control the Dutch and Japanese as to order around servants, he wouldn't have submitted the memorial so brazenly..."

Even Emperor Chongzhen himself wouldn't believe this. If the British and Japanese, who had caused so much suffering to the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, were merely considered servants in Liu Ye's eyes, wouldn't the faces of Emperors Jiajing, Wanli, Tianqi, and Chongzhen have been slapped so hard?

Emperor Chongzhen shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. He firmly believed that the Ming Dynasty would not produce such a monstrous figure. In the end, Liu Ye was just a military general with considerable ability and ambition.

He picked up the memorial again. If Liu Ye could really drive out the Japanese and Japanese pirates, then what harm would there be in granting their request to establish a military garrison? The Ming Dynasty didn't have too many capable military generals, but rather too few. Winning over one general who was good at both training troops and fighting was more useful than ten civil officials.

Thinking of this, he sat back down in his chair and picked up his pen to review the memorial: If this person can obey the Ministry of War's orders and drive out the Japanese pirates from Kinmen, Fujian and Taizhou, Zhejiang, then this matter will be submitted to the court for discussion.

Liu Ye, far away in Qiongzhou, was unaware of Chongzhen's inner thoughts. He only knew that the tricks of the "red-haired" and "Japanese pirates" were beginning to show results. The Ministry of War's order was soon sent to Guangdong and then forwarded to him. The order was simple: the Qiongzhou garrison was to set off immediately, advancing by both land and sea, to repel the "red-haired" warships at Kinmen and the Japanese pirates at Taizhou. If it was not possible to split the troops into two groups, they were to first go to Taizhou to drive out the Japanese pirates before heading to Kinmen.