Chapter 286: The Greenhouse Opens for Harvest

Watching the rebel troops surge forward in a dark mass, Qi Yuangong waved his hand expressionlessly. In an instant, countless crossbow bolts shot out from the formation, followed by arquebuses opening fire.

Bang-bang-bang sounds rang out across heaven and earth. Countless plumes of white smoke rose up, and lead shot dense as a summer night's rainstorm smashed into the enemy ahead.

On both flanks of the formation, cannons also opened fire, and thunderous roars rolled across the sky. In a moment, solid shot and explosive shells screamed through the air like they cost nothing, slamming into the enemy.

Not far away, small cannons firing grapeshot were also in action.

For a time, the entire battlefield was filled with rumbling sounds, gunsmoke rising on all sides, shouts and screams interweaving—this stretch of earth instantly became a hellish battlefield.

Everyone who saw this was stunned, including Fan Long.

His troops hadn't even reached the enemy before they began falling like wheat, thud-thud-thud, and the entire road was covered in blood.

Fan Long's fierce eyes were bloodshot as he shouted and bellowed: "Charge! Charge!"

In Fan Long's view, as long as they could close the distance, there would be a chance to fight.

But things did not go as he imagined.

Faced with such a storm of attacks, anyone would feel afraid.

"Charge!" Fan Long's eyes split with rage.

Before the words died out, a piercing cry cut through the air—"General!"

Fan Long only felt himself being violently tackled to the ground.

"Boom!" A deafening explosion—a withered tree as thick as a rice bowl a dozen meters ahead was blasted into several pieces. Several soldiers were blown apart, limbs scattered and flesh mangled, yet they did not die immediately, their wails drilling one after another into the ears of the living.

Fan Long felt his vision going black in waves; gunsmoke mixed with the stench of blood stung his nostrils. He struggled to his feet, gripping the hilt of his blade tightly as if clutching a lifeline.

His subordinates began falling back—at first hesitantly, timidly refusing to advance, then it fully degenerated into a rout.

"Pathetic." Qi Yuangong snorted and called out loudly: "Pursue and mop them up."

At Qi Yuangong's command, the Ming troops behind him also charged forward.

Arquebuses and bows were wielded with great skill, long spears and halberds covered the flanks, shield bearers and heavy-armored infantry led the way—they slaughtered straight into the enemy.

Blade-light and blood-light reflected off each other, and Fan Long's side quickly collapsed into a full-scale rout, with Qi Yuangong's men biting at their heels in pursuit.

This battle was never intense at all—it showed a one-sided situation from the very start. There was hardly anything worth describing, because the two sides never even engaged in close combat.

Seeing this, Sun Chuanting nodded in satisfaction, while his heart was filled with admiration.

Truly elite troops—this equipment, this tactical discipline, could not be trained in a day or two, nor could just anyone train them.

The Qi family truly deserved their reputation as master trainers of soldiers—genuinely brilliant! The Tiger Roar Battalion they drilled was indeed fierce and imposing!

Although Qi Yuangong's command and tactical acumen were nothing special, Sun Chuanting still considered him a fierce general. Of course, becoming a great strategist was out of the question—limited by talent, not something to be forced.

The shift on the battlefield was very fast. With the defeat below the walls, those on the city walls naturally lost their spirit.

The rebels had originally expected Fan Long to defeat the Ming army and force the Ming troops off the city walls, but instead they were repelled in a single wave. Now Fan Long could barely save himself, and the hearts of those on the walls tightened with dread.

They had already been beaten so badly by the Ming army that they couldn't lift their heads, holding on purely by a breath of will. Now that their morale had collapsed, naturally they could no longer hold.

Zhang Hu cut down a rebel and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Take Luzhou City! Kill!"

His cry was naturally earth-shaking, and the Ming army's morale surged.

Having just witnessed the battle below the walls, their confidence soared, and they charged straight at the rebels.

One side rose while the other fell—the rebels instantly could not hold any longer.

Seeing this, She Yin's expression was savage, yet also dejected.

He knew it was over. He had harbored all sorts of grand plans in his heart, but in this moment, they all vanished.

Not only could he not counterattack, he had even lost Luzhou City. Once he returned, his standing would surely plummet.

Fan Hu watched the dazed She Yin, and he too could see that his young master seemed ready to charge up and fight to the death.

Fan Hu dared not let the young master die here. If the young master fell in battle, he would have to die too—otherwise, returning would bring no good end. But if the young master lived, he himself could not die either.

So Fan Hu rushed forward and grabbed She Yin by the arm, shouting: "Young master, as long as the green mountains remain, there's no shortage of firewood. Let's retreat quickly!"

"Let's go back to Chongqing and find the Great King. The Great King still has men there—we can fight our way back later."

She Yin turned his head to look at Fan Hu, his eyes extremely red.

He couldn't help but think of Fan Hu's elder brother, Fan Long.

In this moment, She Yin finally understood—Fan Long was the true famed general. But now, regret was too late.

He had originally wanted to charge up and fight to the death, but being pulled by Fan Hu like this, She Yin instantly lost his fighting spirit.

Gritting his teeth and casting one look toward the Ming army's direction, She Yin did not linger any longer. He turned and led his men in retreat.

If they didn't run now, soon they wouldn't be able to.

The setting sun descended westward, the dying light blood-red, and the stench of blood drifted across the land.

Qi Yuangong's men had returned from the pursuit, many of them with several severed heads hanging behind them—these were their military merits.

In addition, some were escorting prisoners back.

Luzhou City had also been taken, and Zhang Hu was leading men to finish off the wounded rebels.

Those lightly wounded were kept as prisoners; those more seriously wounded were killed outright. No one would care for the severely injured—they could only become military merits hanging at the waist.

Sun Chuanting, meanwhile, was leading men to comfort the city's civilians, and also sent people to inventory the supplies the rebels had left behind, searching for anything his own army could use.

At the same time, he ordered the treasury sealed and strictly forbade soldiers from disturbing the people.

In fact, Sun Chuanting had no intention of letting his own men enter the city—those entering would surely be Qi Yuangong's Tiger Roar Battalion.

They were strictly disciplined, from the capital, and very obedient to orders. Telling them not to burn, not to loot, not to seize—they could certainly manage it. His own men, by contrast, were monks who had taken up the robe halfway—their scripture-chanting could never match the great masters.

When Qi Yuangong came to Sun Chuanting's side, the latter was reviewing account books.

Glancing at Sun Chuanting, Qi Yuangong said: "Lord Sun, we've received word—the man in Luzhou City is She Chongming's son, She Yin. Unfortunately, we failed to capture him alive; he got away."

Lifting his head to look at Qi Yuangong, Sun Chuanting smiled dismissively.

Waving his hand lightly, Sun Chuanting said: "He can flee for a time, but not for a lifetime. Letting him escape this once is no great matter—where else can he run? Next time we'll just capture father and son together."

"But wouldn't the credit be different?" Qi Yuangong also said with a smile.

"If they've all run off, what can we do?" Sun Chuanting spread his hands and said, "I'll write up a battle report right away. You come over and sign it too, then we'll send it immediately to the Governor-General. I believe he should have results by now as well—we can report a great victory to the court."

"Indeed!" Qi Yuangong also nodded and said with a smile, "It's time we gave His Majesty something to be happy about!"

The two were discussing reporting the victory to the court, planning to make Zhu Youxiao happy.

At this very moment, Zhu Youxiao was in the capital, preparing to make a fortune.

After leaving the Western Park, Zhu Youxiao arrived at the main gate of the imperial estate.

Behind Zhu Youxiao followed a number of civil and military officials, and beside him was Empress Zhang. The whole procession entered the imperial estate in grand style.

Li Zhizao had long been waiting there with his people.

"Your servant Li Zhizao, paying respects to Your Majesty."

Upon seeing Zhu Youxiao, Li Zhizao hurriedly bowed in salute.

"Enough, no need for ceremony." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, "Take me to see what results you've achieved."

It had snowed yesterday, so the weather was a bit cold.

Zhu Youxiao was wrapped in a fur overcoat, so he didn't feel particularly cold, but he still couldn't stay outside for too long.

"Very well, Your Majesty, please follow me this way." Li Zhizao quickly acknowledged and took the lead.

The group arrived outside the greenhouse in full force.

This greenhouse was different from the ones in Zhu Youxiao's memory. In his memory, a greenhouse was shaped with an earthen wall at the back and plastic sheeting covering the front, forming a quarter-cylinder shape.

The one before him, however, had a roof—except the roof was covered with glass.

As the Imperial Household Department's craftsmanship improved, the quality of the glass kept rising. A while ago, they had already produced large panes of glass that could be installed on houses and rooftops.

Relying on this large glass, the Imperial Household Department had also begun laying out its own commercial channels.

This glass was already on sale in the capital, and other provinces had begun establishing glass production sites. Of course, the method of construction and sale in each locality was through partnership with prominent local families, and the partners were all selected by the Imperial Household Department.

Zhu Youxiao had never forgotten the role of the Imperial Household Department. On the surface, it existed to make money for him, but in reality, that wasn't the case.

It was the institution through which Zhu Youxiao extended his reach into the provinces, and also a means for him to screen and unite his own people.

He wanted to bind a portion of people to his war chariot.

Economic base determines the superstructure—Zhu Youxiao understood this principle.

But there was one thing Zhu Youxiao understood even better: the current production and livelihood of the Great Ming had essentially nothing to do with him as Emperor. Within the entire economic activity, the imperial house could participate only to a very low degree.

Because of the tax-exemption system, local protectionism, and ties of faction and native place, the local protectionism of this era was far more severe than in later ages. Trying to solve problems by issuing a single decree from the central government was basically impossible.

For example, the tax-exemption system had given rise to a major contradiction, and its name was "land dedication."

The so-called land dedication worked like this: self-cultivating farmers handed their land over to tax-exempt scholars, giving the land to the scholars in their families at extremely low prices or even for nothing at all.

Because scholars' land was not taxed, their land didn't need to pay taxes either. The farmers would instead rent the land back from these scholars and cultivate it themselves, only needing to pay some land rent each year.

This land rent was certainly less than the taxes they would have paid to the court—it could be said to be a win-win model.

The scholars gained land and received extra rent every year; as for the farming commoners, they no longer had to pay taxes to the court, only needed to pay a small amount of land rent each year, and could also keep more of their grain harvest—so both sides won.

The only difficulty was that when natural disasters or man-made calamities struck, if the landlords didn't rescue these commoners, or couldn't rescue them, then no one could survive, and the state had no money to provide disaster relief either. In other words, this system, played out over and over, ended up playing itself to death.

But if Zhu Youxiao were to go tell them now, "You must pay taxes, the scholars' land must pay taxes," then these scholars would certainly shift the tax burden onto the farming commoners. And if the farming commoners had to pay both taxes and rent, how much harvest would they have left?

Could they even survive?

At that point, the whole realm would be in turmoil.

Don't think that ordinary people would support you just because you levied taxes—they wouldn't. The reality was just that twisted. The Qing dynasty's ability to implement "apportioning the land tax by head count" didn't mean the Ming could do the same.

The Qing could do it because high-yield crops like potatoes had already become widespread. Secondly, after the wars at the end of the Ming, the population had plummeted, and the state's land was still relatively ample.

Even so, by the middle of the Qing dynasty, land was still insufficient, which was why many people who couldn't survive went alone or with their entire families to brave the journey through the Pass to the Northeast, seeking a slim chance at life.

But in the current Great Ming, with a saturated population and insufficient land, if Zhu Youxiao recklessly levied taxes and tried some "apportioning the land tax by head count," he could just wait for rebellion to flare up everywhere.

Only by extending his hand into the daily lives of the common people and grasping the economic lifeline of the Great Ming would he be qualified to consider such matters.

As for forcibly pushing things through by decree, Zhu Youxiao dared not imagine what the consequences would be. The Imperial Household Department was the executor of this policy of his.

Now, seeing such vegetable greenhouses, Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied. He felt this was an excellent beginning.

Although the glass was currently selling at a relatively high price outside, the truth was that Zhu Youxiao knew its manufacturing cost.

It wouldn't be wrong to hold back sales for the sake of price, but sometimes silver earned was of little use—it was dead matter. What was needed was to drive the development of productive forces.

Vegetable greenhouses were far more important than dead silver.

"Come, let's go take a look first." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, and at the same time reached out to take Empress Zhang's hand, leading her with him as they walked into the greenhouse.

Passing through the arched entrance into the greenhouse, warm air rushed to meet them, and the temperature inside instantly made one feel warmth.

Although the greenhouse was a bit damp inside, the brilliant green of the various plants made people feel very comfortable.

Outside, snow lay white everywhere; inside, it was like spring all year round.

Seeing this sight, Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction.

Walking along the path inside the greenhouse, Zhu Youxiao discovered that quite a few good things had been planted here—there were cucumbers, and eggplants, and even potatoes, though the potatoes were planted in very small quantities.

Besides these, there were many other vegetables as well. It was clear that these vegetables were growing very well, and some were already nearly ripe.

Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction, then turned to Li Zhizao and said, "When can they go on sale?"

"To answer Your Majesty, I've already had people prepare for harvesting. They can be sold within the next couple of days." Li Zhizao quickly said, "The Imperial Household Department's people are already waiting here."

Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction once more and said with a smile, "You've done well. Submit a merit report later, and I will reward you handsomely."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Li Zhizao quickly acknowledged.

Afterwards, Zhu Youxiao took another stroll around the area, looked at a few other greenhouses, and then led his people back.

He didn't eat there, because he didn't want to hold things up. After all, they were already preparing to harvest and sell the vegetables—he couldn't let his presence ruin things.

Still, Zhu Youxiao had people pick some vegetables to give to the ministers who had accompanied him, letting them take the vegetables back; at the same time, he also had the Imperial Household Department deliver some vegetables to the homes of princes and high ministers, counting as gifts from the Emperor.

Of course, the main purpose was to do some marketing.

Being able to eat such vegetables in the dead of winter, Zhu Youxiao believed these people wouldn't eat them just this once—they would become addicted. As for the price being a bit high, Zhu Youxiao felt they wouldn't care too much.

After all, the Ming dynasty's hereditary nobles, imperial relatives by marriage, and high ministers were truly wealthy.