Zhang Xianzhong suddenly became excited and said to Yuan Chonghuan, "Lord Yuan, this is a golden opportunity delivered right to our doorstep!"
“If we kill Hauge here, and then kill Dorgon, the Jurchens will definitely collapse instantly.”
"By then, we won't need to worry about pacifying Liaodong in three or five years; we can recover Shengjing by the end of the year!"
Yuan Chonghuan rolled his eyes and completely ignored the conversation.
He was internally screaming, "Has this kid gone mad?"
"The reason we were able to kill Huang Taiji last time was entirely due to the enemy underestimating us, plus that inexplicable Italian cannon."
"We have nothing this time, and the Jurchens must be on guard. How can we kill Hauge?"
"As for Dorgon... why would we kill a mere ten-year-old boy?"
“If Zhang Xianzhong said he wanted to kill Daishan or Jirhalang, then that would make some sense.”
“Killing Jirgalang is like cutting off Hauge’s arm. Killing Daišan will inevitably throw the Jurchen leadership off balance and plunge them into infighting…”
Thinking of this, Yuan Chonghuan frowned and fell into deep thought.
“Yes, Hauge is not easy to kill, but Jirhalang has a way.”
"Regardless of the details of what Zhang Xianzhong did a few days ago, it still caused Jirhalang to suffer a loss, and he will definitely want to get his face back."
"If we deliberately leave a flaw, we might be able to lure him into fighting personally."
A glint flashed in Yuan Chonghuan's eyes, and he began to give orders to those around him.
"Pass on my order to deliberately select the most disobedient group of canal workers and have them climb the city wall to defend it."
Several days later, in the capital city.
The officials and civil servants all looked at the palace, their expressions quite subtle.
"I heard that Lord Yuan has already arrived in Goryeo?"
"They should have arrived a long time ago, but news of it only came back recently."
"It is said that Yuan Chonghuan did not break off relations with Mao Wenlong after they met."
"Hahaha, they had conflicts before because Yuan Chonghuan wanted to take away Mao Wenlong's military power, but now that Lord Yuan has been transferred away from Liaodong, their conflicts have naturally disappeared."
A group of people gathered together, whispering amongst themselves.
Actually, they weren't very concerned about things in Goryeo.
Since the Wanli era, the imperial court had fought two wars with Japan for Goryeo, spending millions of taels of silver, which indirectly led to the emptiness of Liaodong, allowing the Jurchens to take the opportunity to grow stronger.
The Ming Dynasty court always considered Goryeo a liability.
Actually, I'm not particularly concerned about it.
After the defeat at the Battle of Sarhu, the Ming army shifted from offense to defense and paid even less attention to Goryeo.
The people the imperial court sent to Goryeo this time were just the old canal workers; they wouldn't care if they all died.
The high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty certainly wouldn't care too much about it.
They were just gossiping about Yuan Chonghuan and Zhang Xianzhong.
Someone asked with a smile:
"By the way, this time the emperor has sent another disciple of Master Gao, someone named Zhang Xianzhong. What are his skills?"
"Could it be that he's like that Li Zicheng, controlling some kind of Italian cannon?"
Everyone else shook their heads.
"I haven't heard of that, and it seems they didn't bring any cannons with them when they went out to sea this time."
"By the way, I also heard that this guy is called Zhang Xianzhong. He seems to have some mental problems and always says nonsensical things."
"That can't be, can it?" the man said, frowning.
After he said that, no one else said anything.
They still remember those who provoked Gao Qingyun back then, and none of them had a good ending.
Who knows if speaking ill of Gao Qingyun's apprentice behind his back will implicate him?
Not long after, the sound of whips cracking rang out.
The officials filed in and knelt before Zhu Youjian.
Immediately someone stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, I have a memorial to present."
When the officials looked up and saw that it was Bi Ziyan, they were not surprised at all.
This Minister of Revenue has been quite active lately.
After the fishing season opened in Jiangnan, a considerable amount of silver was sent to the capital in just a few months.
Zhu Youjian was pleased and transferred a considerable amount of silver to the Ministry of Revenue.
With money in hand, he felt secure, so Bi Ziyan would often pop up to make his presence felt.
Bi Ziyan cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, recently someone has submitted a memorial requesting the court to abolish the canal system and switch to coastal transport. I urge Your Majesty to refute such remarks!"
Zhu Youjian raised an eyebrow and asked in surprise, "Oh? Lord Bi, why do you object?"
"According to that memorial, abolishing the canal system and converting it to the sea would benefit the country and its people."
Upon hearing the emperor's words, the courtiers immediately understood that the emperor was expressing his stance.
He himself definitely supports abolishing the canal transport system.
Bi Ziyan was a smart man, so he naturally understood the emperor's meaning.
But he remained stubbornly standing there and said:
"Your Majesty, while the memorial makes some sense, if we change the route to transport grain to the capital by sea, we can reduce a lot of losses."
"But what will happen to the millions of laborers on the Grand Canal after they are transported by sea?"
Zhu Youjian sneered, "Lord Bi, are you going to lecture me about the livelihoods of millions of grain transport workers?"
Bi Ziyan first bowed and apologized, saying, "Your humble servant dares not."
But he then added:
"Your Majesty, what exactly do you intend to do with these canal workers?"
"Are we just going to let them roam freely among the people?"
"If that's the case...then the nation is in grave danger!"
Bi Ziyan's words were not an exaggeration.
After all, canal workers are different from farmers; they are inherently highly organized.
They don't usually dare to rebel, but once they have no way to survive, things could get complicated.
Moreover, most of the canal workers were concentrated on both sides of the Huai River, a place that has historically been prone to producing founding emperors.
Going back further, Emperor Taizu of Han, Liu Bang, was born here.
To put it more simply... Fengyang, the hometown of our Great Ming Emperor Taizu, is located on the banks of the Huai River.
Even in his later years, Zhu Yuanzhang liked to call himself a commoner from Huaiyou.
If hundreds of thousands of able-bodied men were directly deployed to both banks of the Huai River, it would truly cause a great uproar.
Zhu Youjian naturally understood this principle.
After hearing Bi Ziyan's words, his tone softened considerably.
"Don't worry, Lord Bi, I already had a plan."
"Not long ago, didn't the imperial court send more than 10,000 canal workers to support Goryeo?"
"It is said that they have performed quite well, so I intend to select the best from among these million canal workers and form hundreds of thousands of military households."
"When the imperial court attacks the Jurchens, let them be in charge of logistics and escort the grain and fodder."
"Once we recover Liaodong, we'll let them settle there."
"This way, we can not only control Liaodong and ensure that the Jurchens will never be able to rise again, but also deter Goryeo and even turn it into an internal vassal state."
Upon hearing this, all the ministers frowned.
They were all very puzzled by the emperor's words.
"What's so intimidating about Goryeo? They're just dogs of my Great Ming, and the kind that only eat and don't bite."
"Also, I haven't heard that the canal workers who went to Korea performed particularly well."
"Recently there has been news that as soon as Yuan Chonghuan landed, he quickly retreated south."
After pondering for a moment, Bi Ziyan shook his head and said, "Your Majesty is mistaken."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com