Chapter 132: No Hurry to Journey South (Seeking Collections, Seeking Recommendations)

The temporary imperial residence had long been prepared. It was not within the city of Dagu, but in a large manor on a small island at the mouth of the Wei River.

This manor had originally belonged to a hereditary military officer family of the Tianjin Three Guards. A few years earlier it had been purchased by Shen Tingyang, who handled the Liaodong military supply and the sea transport of tribute grain. He had repaired it and also built docks, warehouses, and market streets on the island, clearly intending to operate it as a commercial town.

Unfortunately, the times were bad, and this real estate investment had plainly lost him a great deal of capital.

Yet the property was not entirely without merit. An island surrounded by water on all sides was an excellent refuge for the Ming court in exile. Since neither the roving bandits nor the eastern barbarians had a navy, they would find it very difficult to land on the island while the Wei River was not frozen.

Therefore, after Su Guansheng learned that the Chongzhen Emperor and Zhu Cilang had fled Beijing and were about to arrive at Dagu, he immediately ordered the island, called Haisha Island, to be sealed off, and had the Shen family manor on the island make ready to receive the imperial party.

Since Haisha Island also had a dock capable of berthing large sand ships, the Chongzhen Emperor and his son boarded a ship once more and set out for Haisha Island. The officials who had come to greet the imperial party at the Dagu sea transport dock went on foot to the ferry crossing and took ferries to the island.

Su Guansheng and Wang Zhixin were also summoned by Zhu Cilang onto the sand ship he and the Chongzhen Emperor were aboard — not the Great Dragon Head, but another sand ship of similar size, the one the Chongzhen Emperor, Empress Zhou, and Empress Zhang had been riding. Zhu Cilang had only switched onto this ship when the fleet was about to reach Dagu, so as to make himself look more like a filial son.

While the ship was under way to Haisha Island, Zhu Cilang sent Wang Zhixin to report the situation at Dagu to the Chongzhen Emperor, while he himself drew Su Guansheng and Shen Tingyang aside to stand with him on the foredeck, taking in the terrain and discussing the matter of the court's staying at Dagu.

"Your Highness, is the court not to proceed south to the auxiliary capital?" Su Guansheng was rather surprised by Zhu Cilang's proposal that the court remain at Dagu. "There is no northwest wind at present, but there is still a southwest wind. Once a southwest wind rises, the fleet can reach Penglai or Dengzhou in a single day."

"Your Highness," Shen Tingyang added, "sailing in the Bohai is actually east-west in orientation. As long as there is a southeast or southwest wind, it will do. So it is very convenient for sand ships to travel between Dagu and Penglai or Dengzhou."

Zhu Cilang smiled. "Since it is convenient, what is there to be in a hurry about? Let us stay at Dagu for a month. By the way, is there enough grain? The troops who have come with Us number nearly twenty thousand, and with the accompanying officials and commoners, the total is no less than thirty thousand. There must also be many people here at Dagu, no? Without grain it will not do!"

"There is enough to eat," Su Guansheng said. "More than enough — it simply cannot be eaten up! Because of the war in the north, the grain transport now only goes as far as Huai'an, after which it comes north by sea. Last year's tribute grain was only shipped north this spring with the southeast wind, and arrived at Dagu in the second month, too late to be transshipped. At present no less than five hundred thousand shi of tribute grain is piled up at Dagu!"

"Five hundred thousand shi?" When Zhu Cilang heard this figure, the smile on his face could not be concealed at all. "Is it all well preserved?"

"All of it is well preserved!" Su Guansheng said. "There are many sea transport warehouses here at Dagu that can store grain for long periods. In addition, there are sea transport warehouses inside Dengzhou city as well, where two or three hundred thousand shi of grain and more than a million taels of silver are still stored."

"There is also more than a million taels of silver?" The smile on Zhu Cilang's face grew even more radiant.

These days he had been spending money like water; the four million-plus taels in hand would not last long at all.

"Indeed. That is tax silver and surcharge silver due to be delivered to the Ministry of Revenue," Su Guansheng said. "Had the capital not suffered this calamity of war, it would have been delivered by now."

So the Chongzhen Emperor's empty pockets were simply the result of an unfortunate gap between seasons. The silver and grain collected from the southeast in the autumn of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen had not yet been transported into Beijing when Li Zicheng's great army arrived!

"Good, good!" Zhu Cilang nodded repeatedly, thinking to himself: It seems I must send someone trustworthy to serve as Governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou. Dengzhou is also a strong city built against the sea. If properly managed, it could completely become a major base for resisting the Qing in the north.

But for the moment, neither he nor the Chongzhen Emperor could go to Dengzhou, because the court's reforms had not yet begun!

Without a court capable of getting things done, Zhu Cilang, for all his heaven-sent abilities as Crown Prince, had no way to put them to use!

Besides, how had he obtained his position as Army-Supervising Crown Prince and Grand Marshal of All Forces Under Heaven? He had seized it by carrying a sword and frightening the Chongzhen Emperor into a faint! The deed had been done before the entire civil and military court at the Gate of Imperial Supremacy.

Therefore, whenever possible, Zhu Cilang had to remain at Dagu together with the court. Only by staying at Dagu could everyone feel a certain sense of urgency, and then resistance to reform would be lessened.

"Provost Su," Zhu Cilang said with a smile, having thought this far, "We have heard that you have the nickname 'Master Three Refusals' — refusing office, refusing money, and refusing to fear death. Is this true?"

Su Guansheng was somewhat embarrassed, and his face reddened slightly. "Your Highness, that is mere jesting among colleagues."

"Heh heh," Zhu Cilang laughed. "But you have indeed done your office well. You can handle affairs and are not afraid of offending people. This time, sealing off Dagu and not allowing a single ship to flee out to sea was excellently done! We most admire officials like you!"

The Crown Prince means to promote me? Su Guansheng was not a man without brains, and he immediately understood Zhu Cilang's meaning. He glanced at his good friend Shen Tingyang. Shen Tingyang nodded at him and raised a thumb.

Su Guansheng withdrew his gaze and at once performed a deep bow to Zhu Cilang. "This subject is willing to die for the Great Ming!"

Zhu Cilang reached out and helped Su Guansheng up, laughing. "No need to speak of death! The loyal subjects and good generals of the Great Ming must all live well, and live to a hundred. Let the roving bandits and Tartars go die early!"

He paused. "We will not use a loyal subject and capable official like you, Su Qing, in a place of death. Provost Su, do you think Dengzhou is a place of death?"

"That..." Su Guansheng thought briefly. "This subject believes that as long as the sea route is in our hands, and with two or three thousand elite troops equipped with turtledove-foot muskets and red-barbarian cannon, Dengzhou will be an unbreakable strong city!"

"Good!" Zhu Cilang raised his thumb in approval. "You truly understand military affairs! Su Qing, speak plainly with Us: can you serve well as Governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou?"

Governor, just like that? Su Guansheng's heart gave a jolt. Can this Crown Prince really make me a Governor?

Seeing him silent, Zhu Cilang continued, "We have received reliable word that the eastern barbarians are about to invade in great force. And given the roving bandits' strength and their many tyrannical acts since entering the capital, one can foresee that their defeat is certain.

If the roving bandits are defeated, and the court is for a time unable to recover, the eastern barbarians will surely entrench themselves in the capital and Northern Zhili. Shandong will become the front line of resistance against the barbarians, and the shield of the southeast. And Dengzhou is the great strongpoint of Shandong's resistance — it can not only support Shandong, but also project power across the sea to threaten Liaodong, Joseon, and the seaports of Northern Zhili! As long as Dengzhou is in our hands, the eastern barbarians cannot turn their full strength southward!

Provost Su, can you manage Dengzhou for Us, for the Great Ming, and for all under Heaven?"

Hearing Zhu Cilang's words, Su Guansheng could not help but feel some admiration for this Crown Prince's strategic vision.

Because of his command of the Tianjin Guard naval forces, he understood the Liaodong war situation very well, and he knew that the fighting power of the eastern barbarians' Eight Banners troops was formidable, far above the Guanning Army, and that the roving bandits certainly could not defeat them either.

Moreover, the eastern barbarians could not possibly pass up this opportunity to seize Yan and Yun amid the chaos! Therefore a decisive battle between the eastern barbarians and the roving bandits was inevitable, and the roving bandits would surely be defeated.

After the roving bandits' defeat, Shandong would become the Great Ming's front line of resistance against the eastern barbarians. And Dengzhou, without question, was the most important strongpoint in Shandong!

With Dengzhou in hand, the eastern barbarians would have to deploy Eight Banners forces in Liaodong, Northern Zhili, and other parts of Shandong. And the Eight Banners troops were limited in number — for every extra one deployed in Liaodong, Northern Zhili, or Shandong, there would be one fewer available to attack Jiangnan!

That Zhu Cilang had seen Dengzhou's importance at a glance showed that this Crown Prince understood military affairs to a degree far surpassing his father, the Chongzhen Emperor.

With that thought, Su Guansheng made up his mind. "Your Highness, this subject is willing to manage Dengzhou for the Great Ming! However, this subject has no land forces in hand, and I fear I lack the strength to hold Dengzhou and Laizhou..."

Zhu Cilang patted Su Guansheng on the shoulder and laughed. "You hand the naval forces over to Shen Tingyang. As for land forces, We will send them to you. We will give you seven thousand troops, all new army troops under the Grand Marshal's Office of the Army-Supervising Prince, all of whom have fought the roving bandits at Tianjin Guard!

In addition, the grain stored at Dengzhou is all yours to use, and We will allocate you three hundred thousand taels of silver, permitting you to recruit new troops on your own and purchase muskets and gunpowder."

(End of Chapter)