Chapter 370: The Great Army Surges Toward Juye

After hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Chen Hong quickly said, "Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will see to it at once."

With that, Chen Hong hurried out with urgent steps.

Watching Chen Hong's retreating figure, a relaxed smile spread across Zhu Youxiao's face.

For Zhu Youxiao, the matter of the Kong family in Shandong was the truly important affair.

As for the rebellion, Zhu Youxiao actually did not take it too much to heart.

In the original history, although Xu Hongru's rebellion appeared formidable in scale, it actually posed no great danger. Because of the war in Liaodong, the Great Ming had conscripted a great many men.

Whether from Shandong or from the southwest, many people had gone to Liaodong. This was also why, in the original history, She Chongming and An Bangyan were able to stir up such a commotion. Because the Great Ming had no men left, the regions naturally became unstable.

But now things were different. The situation in Liaodong was still fairly stable — Xiong Tingbi had done well there. Though dozens of battles large and small had been fought, they had basically all been held.

For Zhu Youxiao, that was already more than enough. He had never contemplated a counteroffensive; by adopting a steady defensive posture, he had to a great extent guaranteed the security of Liaodong.

In the original history, the reason Liaodong had erupted so violently was not actually rooted in Liaodong itself, but in the factional strife at court.

Today the policy toward Liaodong was one thing, tomorrow another; today you governed Liaodong, tomorrow I did — successors overturning their predecessors' policies, orders changed at dawn and rescinded by dusk, was a common occurrence.

Add to that rampant corruption, and the army pay in Liaodong could not be guaranteed, leaving mid- and low-ranking officers and soldiers struggling to survive.

That was why Zhu Youxiao deeply sympathized with Mao Wenlong. Mao Wenlong's trafficking business in Liaodong was, to a large extent, a way to earn money to support his troops.

Some said Mao Wenlong kept his troops to assert his own power, but if he had not had such money-making methods, he could never have supported so many soldiers.

The grand lords at court ordered him to do the work, yet the money was all embezzled by those same grand lords — Mao Wenlong naturally had to find other means. Under such circumstances, there was no good alternative.

Of course, lining one's own pockets was hardly a rarity in this era — basically everyone did it. So Mao Wenlong was nothing exceptional; he was just a very ordinary Ming dynasty general.

When Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, it was largely because Yuan Chonghuan could not tolerate having a force under his command that did not obey him, and at the same time he was extremely confident in himself, believing he could control Mao Wenlong's men without any major problems.

From Yuan Chonghuan's conduct and speech, one could see that he was an exceedingly, exceedingly confident man — confident to the point of arrogance. From another angle, he was a man with high aims but low ability, a representative of those who had read themselves into foolishness.

Now the Great Ming's Liaodong had no such warfare, and Zhu Youxiao had not conscripted troops, so the problem of depleted military strength did not exist.

Moreover, he had brought five thousand new troops with him, and had a group of capable generals at his side — men like Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, and Cao Wenzhao.

With them by his side, Zhu Youxiao had nothing to worry about at all, and Xu Hongru's rebellion was even less of a problem.

Once the matter of the Kong family reached its conclusion, Zhu Youxiao could set his heart at ease, and Xu Hongru's rebellion would count for nothing. On this point, Zhu Youxiao had tremendous confidence.

Outside, everything was in an uproar, and all the news was spreading like wildfire.

Xu Guangqi naturally heard of it as well, but when he received the news, he was neither agitated nor resistant — instead he breathed a sigh of relief, and a look of being unburdened appeared on his face.

Zhang Weixian, sitting beside Xu Guangqi, saw this and said with a smile, "Grand Secretary Xu is relieved, then."

"His Majesty may be young in years, but his style of conduct is quite seasoned and ruthless. I, as his minister, was overthinking things." Xu Guangqi spoke with a note of emotion in his voice.

"From here on, we need not worry about this matter anymore. The affair of the Kong family has come to a close — they have been thoroughly trampled into the ground, with no room left to turn things around."

"As long as His Majesty elevates the Southern Branch of the Kong family, then no one will speak up for the Northern Branch anymore. Once cast down into the dust, within a few years they will be ground into the mud."

"If the Northern Branch of the Kong family falls after the court has finished with them, to many people they will still be fat sheep. Perhaps no one would make a move in the first few years, but the temptation will always be there, and those who want to strike will not delay too long."

"By that time, the decline of the Kong family's Northern Branch will have become an established fact."

On this point, Xu Guangqi saw clearly, and Zhang Weixian saw clearly as well.

But Xu Guangqi had no intention whatsoever of concerning himself with it. What he had always worried about was never the Northern Branch of the Kong family, but rather His Majesty placing himself in opposition to the literati, and the Great Ming falling into chaos because of it.

Now that His Majesty's handling of the matter was mature, steady, and beyond reproach — even if some were dissatisfied, it would do no good, for the fence-sitters at court toppled over very quickly.

As long as the Southern Branch of the Kong family existed as an ancestral tablet to be worshipped, everyone could simply elevate it and be done — there was nothing else to worry about.

"Duke of Ying, they've already rebelled over there, and you're still sitting here so calm and composed — is that really all right?" Xu Guangqi looked at Zhang Weixian and asked with a furrowed brow.

These past days, Zhang Weixian had certainly enjoyed no small amount of amusement at Xu Guangqi's expense. Now that Xu Guangqi's matter was settled, it was his turn to needle Zhang Weixian.

But as he said this, a smile was on Xu Guangqi's face — the truth was that Xu Guangqi himself had never taken the matter to heart at all.

"I've already sent troops out." Zhang Weixian said with a smile, "Rest assured, it will be pacified soon."

Zhang Weixian had great confidence in putting down this rebellion.

His subordinates had already made their move — whether Sun Chuanting, Lu Xiangsheng, or Cao Wenzhao and Wu Xiang, they were all first-rate talents, and putting down such a rebellion was no problem at all. So Zhang Weixian was not worried either.

"Once the matter is settled, urge His Majesty to return to the capital." After saying this, Zhang Weixian looked gravely at Xu Guangqi and spoke slowly, "He cannot continue going further."

Hearing this, Xu Guangqi also nodded, which counted as reaching a consensus on the matter.

The two men knew that Zhu Youxiao would certainly not be willing.

As for the Emperor leaving the capital, the two of them had roughly formed their guesses.

On the one hand, His Majesty had come to Shandong to have a look; on the other, he wanted to go slaughter some pigs.

The court's finances had no money, and His Majesty's privy purse was nearly spent as well. Under such circumstances, coming out to scrape up some money was hardly strange.

It was only that His Majesty had come in person, which did surprise the two somewhat. Still, it was understandable — the current Emperor was quite the forceful character.

When the court had problems, squeezing money from the provinces had always been the practice. At a time like this, executing a few corrupt officials and punishing a batch of wealthy merchants was within expectations.

Only, this was a task few were willing to undertake — those who usually handled it were the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Because civil officials cherished their reputations, and officials shielded one another, it was hard to go too far.

Once the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard went down to extract money, complaints would inevitably fill the air. Though everyone understood, they still had to curse.

Only, His Majesty seemed unwilling to see such reckless behavior, so he had come in person.

On Shandong soil, His Majesty had already toppled the Prince of Lu, and then the Kong family. The returns from these two houses were already more than sufficient — under such circumstances, there was simply no need to continue further.

This single trip had already shaken the realm, spawning rebellion and assassination attempts. If he continued on, who knew what else might happen.

Matters should be handled one at a time. Since enough money had been scraped up, it was time to withdraw.

The reason Zhang Weixian had consulted Xu Guangqi on this matter was also simple — he alone had no confidence in persuading His Majesty.

The current Emperor was a man of great talent and bold vision, and emperors of great talent and bold vision were also firm in character — once they had set their minds on something, they were very hard to persuade.

At the same time that Xu Guangqi and Zhang Weixian reached their consensus, a great army was advancing toward Juye.

Ever since Xu Hongru had issued his manifesto and risen in rebellion, his momentum had been tremendous. He had already captured Juye and Yuncheng, and his numbers had swelled to over ten thousand men — growing with remarkable speed, it could be said.

Other White Lotus leaders — Shen Zhi, Xia Zhongjin, Zhang Jianbai, Hou Wu, Zhou Nian'an, Meng Xianhan, and others — had also seized the county towns of Tengxian, Zouxian, and Yixian (present-day southeast of Zaozhuang) respectively.

Now these rebel forces were advancing toward Xia Town, the key artery of the grain transport system.

Once Xiazhen falls, their next step will be to attack Qufu, Yanzhou, and other places. By that time, they will control both banks of the canal, causing very serious trouble.

However, the court was already prepared—when the rebels first began to rise, the main army had already been dispatched.

At this moment, this was a force of ten thousand men, led by Sun Chuanting.

Flanking Sun Chuanting on both sides were Cao Wenzhao, Lu Xiangsheng, Wu Xiang, and others.

This force had been drawn from around Jining, and it had been some time since it was assembled.

Ever since Zhu Youxiao arrived in Jining, these troops had been taken over by Zhang Weixian. The ones responsible for commanding these forces were basically these few men.

After this period of familiarization, although they could not be called trusted troops, nor could they be commanded like an extension of one's own arm, they were barely adequate.

Beside Lu Xiangsheng, Liu Xian spoke slowly: "Shouldn't we be reinforcing Xiazhen right now?"

"After all, Xiazhen is a key point on the grain transport route. If it falls, it will certainly cause tension in the grain transport, and the impact will be enormous. Yet we are now marching to attack Juye—it seems we have gotten the direction of attack wrong."

Lu Xiangsheng glanced at Liu Xian beside him and said with some helplessness: "There's no helping it. What we say doesn't count."

After saying this, Lu Xiangsheng also secretly glanced at Sun Chuanting, who was leading the force.

This order had been given by Sun Chuanting; the only one who truly understood the situation should have been Sun Chuanting alone.

"It's not that we won't go to relieve Xiazhen, but that we cannot go to relieve it."

Zhang Yu walked over at this moment, saying with a smile on his face: "As for Xiazhen, I'm afraid it has already been evacuated by now—it should already have been occupied by the rebels."