Chapter 142: Deliberating the Southward Move

Two quarters of an hour later, Chongzhen finished reviewing the memorials, took up the teacup Wang Cheng'en had brought to his lips, took a sip, and lay back quite relaxed in the imperial seat.

It was then that Zhu Cilang spoke: "Father, today in the new city I harvested some sweet potatoes, and I would like you to try them."

At Zhu Cilang's signal, Wu Zhong led the eunuchs of the Directorate of Imperial Meals in presenting the sweet potatoes, roasted until fragrant and crisp.

The eunuchs of the Directorate of Imperial Meals first used silk thread to cut the sweet potatoes into pieces, and after taking out one piece to taste-test it, only then did Chongzhen begin to enjoy them—testing for poison before eating was an old tradition in the palace.

After taking a small bite, Chongzhen was slightly surprised: "The flavor is not bad! In my early years I heard that Xu Guangqi had trial-planted these sweet potatoes in Jiangnan, and that the yield was extremely large. The court also promoted them once, but for reasons unknown, the common people were unwilling to plant this crop."

Wang Cheng'en smiled and explained: "Your Majesty, it is not that the common people are unwilling to plant them, but rather that if the fields were entirely planted with this crop, then they could not pay the grain the court requires—surely the court cannot store this thing in the granaries? I have heard these sweet potatoes can be preserved for three months at most."

Chongzhen tried another piece of sweet potato and nodded: "Mm, that reasoning is sound." Having said this, he paid no further attention to the matter of sweet potatoes.

Zhu Cilang was also thinking to himself—if sweet potatoes were promoted for large-scale planting across the entire country, although it could alleviate the nationwide disasters to a certain extent, it would also cause grain output to plummet drastically, even producing no grain at all. The army needs grain for war, and insufficient grain is a very great problem.

Moreover, the shelf life of sweet potatoes is at most three months, not enough to support the people's rations for a full year—this too is a very great problem.

The method of the new city's people, using some sweet potatoes to exchange for grain with the surrounding prefectures and counties, is quite good—but still, sweet potatoes cannot be planted on a large scale. If the surrounding areas all stopped planting grain and switched to sweet potatoes instead, then where could one go to exchange for grain?

"It seems this still needs careful planning!" Zhu Cilang sighed inwardly.

In the end, Chongzhen finished eating, yet remained unwilling to bring up the Censor's impeachment—his mouth was sealed tight as a jar.

Zhu Cilang had no choice but to say: "Father, I would like to send some roasted sweet potatoes for Mother to try. I beg your permission."

Chongzhen silently nodded, granting his request to go to Kunning Palace, and then said no more.

Leaving Wenhua Hall, Zhu Cilang felt that this emperor father of his had developed some estrangement from him, and there was an indescribable discomfort in his heart.

Before he knew it, he arrived at Kunning Palace. After announcing himself at the gate, his second sister Zhu Meichuo and third brother Zhu Cijiong immediately rushed up to greet him, the two saying joyfully: "Eldest brother, let's play together!"

Zhu Cilang suddenly felt his head spin. Ever since returning to the capital, these two little ones had been pestering him to play without cease. At first he would still play hide-and-seek with them and such, but every time afterward the two little ones would shout without stop: "One more round!"

After playing ten rounds, they still wanted one more. Zhu Cilang was utterly broken, thinking to himself: I'm a man of over thirty across two lifetimes, and here I am playing hide-and-seek with you two little brats, and even playing more than ten rounds.

Now, whenever Zhu Cilang heard the two phrases "let's play together" and "one more round," he would get a headache.

Looking at the hopeful little eyes of his sister and brother, Zhu Cilang said: "Your elder brother has brought you gifts today—why don't you play by yourselves, alright?"

The Princess of Kunning was immediately displeased, pouting: "Elder brother's gifts are nothing more than porcelain dolls and cloth dolls—no fun at all. I don't want them!"

Zhu Cijiong also nodded vigorously, indicating he didn't want to play with those toys either.

"This gift is different though!" Zhu Cilang had come prepared. With a wave of his hand he took a brocade box from Wu Zhong, and from it drew a jade toy of nine rings interlinked, shaking it in his hand as he smiled: "Do you recognize this?"

The Princess of Kunning pursed her lips: "Eldest brother, what is this? I've never seen it before?"

Zhu Cilang chuckled, saying: "This thing is called the Nine Linked Rings, a puzzle toy that circulates in the Shanxi region. It is made of nine rings linked together in a chain, and the victory lies in separating them."

"Whoever can solve it is the smartest person under heaven—which of you wants to try?" Zhu Cilang shook the Nine Linked Rings, tempting the two little ones.

"I want to play!" The Princess of Kunning snatched the Nine Linked Rings from Zhu Cilang's hand and ran off to one side, with Zhu Cijiong trotting eagerly along behind.

Watching his second sister and third brother run off into the distance, Zhu Cilang finally let out a light sigh of relief—at last he had tricked the two little ones away.

After greeting Empress Zhou, Zhu Cilang conversed with her for a while, and then the Directorate of Imperial Meals presented the roasted sweet potatoes.

Empress Zhou was extremely delighted, recognizing the roasted sweet potatoes at a glance. Before entering the palace she had eaten them at her old home in Suzhou in Jiangnan, and she liked them very much.

Empress Zhou smiled: "My son grows more filial by the day—you even specially inquired about the foods your mother likes to eat."

Zhu Cilang was somewhat taken aback—how would he have known Empress Zhou had a taste for these? But since she had already praised him, he couldn't very well tell the truth and make things awkward, could he?

After returning from Kunning Palace to Zhongcui Palace, Zhu Cilang read for another shichen before hearing that the crowd of remonstrance officials and censors who had been kneeling outside the Meridian Gate had long since dispersed, on the grounds that: their legs had grown sore from kneeling, and their waists tired from standing.

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In the seventh month of the ninth year of Chongzhen, the roving bandit leader Gao Yingxiang was captured and executed by lingering death, and Li Zicheng was elected as the new Dashing King.

In the eighth month, Li Zicheng gathered his subordinate commander Guotianxing's forces and entered the Qian and Long Mountains region, where they were defeated by Ming troops at Guanshan and scattered in all directions. Cao Bianjiao led his cavalry in pursuit, slaughtering them for dozens of li.

At the end of the eighth month, ever since Lu Xiangsheng and the Tianxiong Army had been transferred back to the capital, the pressure from the roving bandits in the Central Plains suddenly lessened. Zhang Xianzhong took the opportunity to rise again, joining forces with Luo Rucai and other units totaling over two hundred thousand men, advancing eastward along the river, dispersing their activities around Qizhou and Huoshan.

While Hong Chengchou and the various government troops were besieging Li Zicheng in the Shaanxi region, Zhang Xianzhong led a great army to invade Xiangyang on the thirteenth day of the tenth month.

Xiangyang had been a place contested by military strategists since ancient times. With the Yangtze River basin as its stronghold, it was extremely convenient whether advancing north or south—one could say that Xiangyang's importance to the Central Plains was very great indeed.

Xiangyang was in dire straits, and the Chongzhen Emperor convened a court conference at Huangji Hall.

The result of the court conference came quickly. Chongzhen issued an edict to Hong Chengchou, Governor-General of the Three Border Regions of Shaanxi, ordering him to rush to Xiangyang's aid with all speed. At the same time, he issued an edict strictly ordering Xiangyang's defenders to hold the city to the death and await reinforcements—if Xiangyang city fell, all officials great and small would be executed for the crime of losing a princely fief!

The Prince of Xiang in Xiangyang city was three generations senior to Chongzhen. That old fellow was of the same generation as the Longqing Emperor—after the Longqing Emperor came the Wanli Emperor, after the Wanli Emperor came the Taichang Emperor, after Taichang came Tianqi, and only after Tianqi came Chongzhen.

Zhu Cilang didn't even know how he should address the Prince of Xiang—Great-Grand-Uncle Imperial? Great-Great-Grand-Uncle Imperial?

Just as Zhu Cilang was agonizing over the form of address for a clansman a thousand li away, a Censor of the Censorate submitted a memorial: "Your Majesty, the Jianzhou barbarians have entered the passes twice and deployed troops around the capital, shaking the entire court and country. The capital is no longer as safe as it once was—your minister suggests moving the capital to Nanjing!"

"Move south? To Nanjing?" At these words, the assembled ministers immediately erupted.

"Since our dynasty moved the capital to Beiping under the Chengzu Emperor, two hundred and fifteen years have passed—this has long been settled as fixed order. We absolutely cannot move the capital again!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, we absolutely must not move south."

The accumulated family holdings of the court's great ministers over many years were all in Beijing city. If the capital were moved to Nanjing now, wouldn't these people have to start from scratch all over again? Therefore, the proposal to move south was quickly met with fierce opposition from the assembled ministers.

"When the Chengzu Emperor moved the capital to Beiping back then, it was beneficial for controlling the political situation of the entire country, beneficial for resisting the southern invasion of the remnant Yuan forces in the north, and even more beneficial for managing the Liaodong region. But the great situation under heaven has undergone enormous changes—the roving bandits in the south have not yet been eliminated, Liaodong has changed hands, and they frequently send troops south to destroy the foundations of our Great Ming. At this time, moving the capital to Nanjing is indeed the best choice."

There were certainly many who opposed, but there was no lack of supporters either—they too now voiced their opinions one after another.

"Our dynasty's current taxes come mainly from the Jiangnan region. The Jiangnan region is extremely prosperous, with sufficient manpower and material resources. Moreover, Nanjing's geographical position is good—easy to defend and hard to attack. The court can first concentrate its forces to eliminate the roving bandits in the Central Plains, and then within a few years our Great Ming will recover its vitality, and we can march north to reclaim the lost territories!"

"Nanjing has complete government organs such as the Six Ministries and the Censorate. If we move the capital to Nanjing, people need only go there to conduct affairs—there is no need to exhaust the people and waste resources on new construction."

As Chongzhen listened, he too began to be tempted. At present, the Great Ming's finances were in difficulty, and the Jianzhou barbarians still came south to plunder every now and then. The Jiangnan region was prosperous, and moving south could well solve the problems of finance and grain.

However, once they moved south, the Nine Border Garrisons would likely be difficult to hold. A southward move purchased at the cost of losing the northern territories—Chongzhen found it hard to accept for the time being.