The Ming Dynasty 1626 Enlightenment

Chapter 44 Resisting the New Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes

The Forbidden City, Xianfu Palace.

The palace of Consort Ren, the residence of Prince Zhu Cijiong.

In Kunning Palace, Empress Zhang Yan had not finished her duties and the aftershocks of the earthquake had not yet subsided when she went straight to Xianfu Palace.

Zhu Cijiong is now the only prince of the Tianqi Emperor.

Zhang Yan knew very well what the foundation of the Ming Dynasty lay in: successive natural disasters had caused unrest among the people.

If someone were to use the prince as a pretext at this time, changes would occur in both the court and the harem.

When she arrived, Consort Ren was sitting on the couch holding Zhu Cijiong, who was less than a year old. Her face was pale, but she remained calm.

When she saw her arrive, Consort Ren was about to rise and pay her respects.

"No need," Zhang Yan waved her hand, sat down on the edge of the couch, and reached out to touch Zhu Cijiong's little face. "How are you? How is the baby?"

"Your Majesty, they are all well," Consort Ren said, her voice trembling slightly. "They were just a little frightened by the earthquake and cried for a while, but they are asleep now."

Zhang Yan nodded, her gaze calm: "I have already ordered the guards of Xianfu Palace to be strengthened. With me here in the inner court, there's no need to panic!"

Consort Ren's eyes reddened, and she lowered her head in agreement.

As Zhang Yan got up, she glanced at the sleeping Zhu Cijiong and silently thought: This child, who died of shock in the Tianqi Explosion in May, has now been reborn. I must not let anything happen to this child again.

After Zhu Ming arrived, Zhang Yan gave him some instructions and then left without lingering.

Zhu Ming thought about it and decided to stay overnight at Xianfu Palace to take care of the pitiful mother and child.

After all, the tremors of an earthquake approaching magnitude 4 are no less shocking than the Apocalypse Explosion.

However, after he and Empress Zhang Yan took turns caring for him for a day and a night, the young prince Zhu Cijiong was fortunately fine.

On the third night after the earthquake, in a secluded courtyard in the capital.

"A report has come from Datong, Shanxi, confirming that an earthquake did indeed occur in Lingqiu."

Gao Panlong looked at the report from the post station in his hand and broke out in a cold sweat.

"What a brilliant astronomical inspector! What a brilliant Zhou Ziyu!" Zhou Qiyuan sneered self-deprecatingly. "How did he so accurately predict the earthquake in Lingqiu!"

"That old scoundrel Zhou Ziyu, can he really predict the future?" Han Kuang asked, his face grim. "He's been in the Imperial Observatory for decades, and I've never seen him with this ability. If you ask me, there must be a big problem behind this."

"That's right!" Huang Suzun nodded, "Moreover, His Majesty didn't have the slightest doubt! And Wei Zhongxian didn't offer any rebuttal either, which is truly puzzling!"

"I think the Imperial Observatory isn't entirely useless!" Gao Panlong stroked his beard and said, "His Majesty might be taking a gamble. If he wins, it's because His Majesty's disaster relief was swift; if he loses, it's because the Imperial Observatory spreads falsehoods!"

"I see!" Li Yingsheng suddenly realized. "This quickly shuts down the previous excuse of 'natural disasters,' leaving us civil officials speechless! His Majesty is becoming more and more formidable!"

"Indeed, nowadays everyone in the court and among the people says that the emperor is wise and decisive, and that he has absolute authority," Han Kuang said with a sigh.

"His Majesty's prestige has greatly increased thanks to this earthquake," Gao Panlong said with a gloomy face. "Our original plan to 'use the celestial phenomenon to impeach the eunuch faction' has now completely failed."

"It's a pity that Shandong is suffering from severe drought, locust plagues, floods, and earthquakes!" Han Kuang also looked lifeless. "His Majesty's words, 'Monday morning quarterbacking,' have silenced all of us."

Yes.

Natural disasters and man-made calamities have always been the best weapons for these civil officials to attack each other, but they were completely bankrupt in just one month.

The floods in Hebei were mitigated by the repairs to the city walls and houses after the Tianqi Explosion, which not only dredged the waterways of the capital but also prevented the floods from threatening the city again. At the same time, the Xuanwu Guard was dispatched to provide disaster relief and rescue to the people. All these measures left them speechless.

Amidst severe drought and locust plagues, Emperor Tianqi (Zhu Ming) surprisingly established a separate Ministry of Agriculture. While the ministry could have been impeached for its autocratic rule, it produced an auspicious sign of a yield of thirty dan per mu, effectively silencing the criticism.

We've been waiting for this Lingqiu earthquake for ages, and the tremors were really strong. Surely we can make a big deal out of this now, right?

The moment the thought crossed his mind, the divination and calculations from the Imperial Observatory came crashing down on him, but Zhu Ming acted swiftly and decisively, crushing them to dust once again.

Incidentally, he also sent the Six Divine Guards of Tianqi, this newly formed ironclad imperial guard, to the common people to gain experience and prestige.

How could this be?

The Donglin members pondered for three days and three nights but still couldn't figure it out: how did a perfectly good start to a natural disaster turn into their own "natural disaster"?

Everyone fell silent.

Silence reigns on Chang'an Avenue tonight; they wave their sleeves, feeling only a gentle breeze in their sleeves.

"Alas, we don't have many opportunities to use natural disasters to set things up. This time, we can only rely on Yuan Chonghuan!" Gao Panlong looked at Han Kuang. "Brother Yu Chen, we can only break the current deadlock by relying on him to fire the first arrow against the 'New Ming Treasure Note'."

"Of course, as long as military pay is still traded in silver, he has a lot of room to maneuver!" Han Kuang said confidently. "However, we need to put pressure on His Majesty!"

"What kind of pressure?" Gao Panlong asked.

"Mao Wenlong!" Han Kuang said bluntly, "Dongjiang Town is isolated overseas, beyond the reach of the imperial court. Now that we intend to manage Liaodong, this man must be eliminated!"

"Of course, Mao Wenlong's soldiers only know Commander Mao and not the imperial court. Their wolfish ambitions are obvious to everyone," Zhou Qiyuan paused and said, "If the imperial court really provides enough pay for the soldiers, those generals will become arrogant and their soldiers will become fierce, and they might rebel."

"That's right," Huang Zunsu agreed. "We can't let these border troops eat their fill. If they're well-fed, won't the border commanders have something to say about us? Will they still respect us? Will they still respect the imperial court?"

The "border troops" they referred to were naturally those not recommended by the Donglin Party.

Those border troops who do not heed their advice are all good-for-nothings and traitors; we must take precautions against them.

"Alright, you can't talk nonsense like that!" Gao Panlong coughed lightly and said, "We must boycott the new Ming Dynasty banknotes, but we can't joke about the border troops!"

"Yes! Old Gao is right!" Li Yingsheng echoed.

After all, jokes are fine, but don't make fun of the border troops.

"Right! We need to stick to the same story, or we'll give them a handle to use against us!" Han Kuang continued, "So, regarding the new Ming Dynasty Treasure Note, what other actions do you all have in mind? Let's discuss them together."

"I have contacted the gentry and officials of various prefectures and counties in Jiangnan to jointly boycott the new Ming Dynasty paper money," Zhou Qiyuan said slowly. "Of course, the official reason is to ask the court to consider the people's plight and postpone its implementation."

"I also contacted an old friend at the Imperial Academy and asked him to persuade those hot-blooded students to submit a petition to the emperor explaining the harm caused by the new Ming Dynasty paper money," Gao Panlong continued calmly. "We need to submit a large number of petitions so that the whole world knows that we are not trying to cause trouble, but that loyal ministers and generals have no choice but to speak out."

"What if His Majesty ignores it?" Li Yingsheng asked with some concern.

"Then let him not listen," Gao Panlong glanced at him. "If he doesn't listen once, we'll submit a petition ten times; if he doesn't listen ten times, we'll submit a petition a hundred times. As long as we build up momentum, neither the eunuch faction nor His Majesty can silence the voices of the people."

"That's right," Liu Zongzhou chimed in at this moment, "Not only that, we also need to ensure His Majesty establishes the foundation of the nation as soon as possible."

"Oh?" Han Kuang paused for a moment, then realized, "This plan is brilliant."

The candlelight flickered, casting shadows that danced and faded.

The next morning, at Wenyuan Pavilion.

A stack of memorials was piled up in front of Sun Chengzong's desk.

"This morning, the Office of Transmission sent over thirty-seven memorials," said the eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial, bowing. "Thank you for your trouble, Grand Secretary Sun."