Chapter 197: The Envoy from Annam

"Your Majesty is truly benevolent and magnanimous—a sage ruler unmatched in a thousand ages!" Wei Zaode, seeing his opportunity, immediately stepped forward again and proclaimed loudly.

"Your Majesty must not be overly merciful toward those rebels."

"Your ministers suggest that ringleaders like Han Xuan should be punished by exterminating their three clans and flaying their skin to stuff with straw—otherwise, the world will not be warned." Wei Zaode's protégé, Hanlin Bachelor Li Zheng, stepped forward to memorialize.

The rest—officials like Jiang Dejing and Ni Yuanlu who had clearly already joined the Imperial Faction—all stepped forward one after another to declare their loyalty, verbally attacking the Donglin Faction ministers. On the one hand, they feared being implicated by the Emperor's wrath; on the other, they were in fact pursuing factional scheming, for the more secure the Imperial Faction's position, the more benefits they themselves would reap.

If not—the Emperor seated at the head was one who would never play by the rules; if they did not completely sever ties with the Donglin Faction, the one sentenced to execution of nine clans on some future day might well be themselves.

Facing the surging tide of the Imperial Faction, the Donglin officials very wisely chose to remain silent at this moment, doing their utmost not to draw the attention of the one above, thereby achieving the goal of self-preservation.

"The matter of Zhou Shixian's assassination attempt on the Imperial Son-in-law is not yet concluded. I order Minister of Justice Xu Shilin, Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate Li Banghua, and Chief Judge of the Court of Judicial Review Dong Yinghua—the Three Judicial Offices—to hold a joint trial. This case shall be co-heard by Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Li Ruolian. The ringleaders must be rooted out for me!"

Having said this, the Chongzhen Emperor calmed himself, took a deep breath, and asked: "In today's court session, do any of my ministers have other important matters to report?"

Upon hearing this, the ministers looked at one another, all exchanging bewildered glances. At a time when one extra sentence could cost one's entire family their lives, going out again to speak for the sake of reputation would make one a thorough fool.

"Your Majesty, Annam Governor-General Le Duy Hữu has sent an envoy who has arrived outside the hall, wishing to restore the title of King of Annam." At this moment, Wang Cheng'en, the Eastern Depot Director and eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, said respectfully from the side.

Having spoken, he presented a state letter with both hands.

Annam?

Only then did the Chongzhen Emperor recall—wasn't this just Vietnam in this era? It had been conquered by the Great Ming during the Yongle reign. By the current year, its interior should also be in a state of fragmentation.

"Who is Le Duy Hữu?" The Chongzhen Emperor finished reading the so-called Annam state letter, chuckled, and said before the assembled ministers: "I recall that the current Annam Governor-General is Le Duy Kỳ. Last year, it was still Le Duy Kỳ's envoy who came. How is it that today it has suddenly changed to his son?"

"Also, who is this Trịnh Tráng named in the state letter? Oh, the Thanh Đô King of Annam! But what I fail to understand is—when it comes to such major matters between two nations, since when does a crawling insect like this get to meddle?"

When it came to foreign affairs, the attitude of the Great Ming's ministers, high and low, was quite evident. At this moment, whether Donglin or Imperial Faction, all seemed to have set aside their factional strife just now, bursting into laughter together.

"Our Celestial Dynasty has achieved great victories, repelling the roving bandits and the eastern barbarians. Now that we are to enfeoff the King of Annam, we naturally should enfeoff Le Duy Kỳ. In your minister's view, His Majesty enfeoffing Le Duy Kỳ as King of Annam would be most appropriate!" Second Grand Secretary Jiang Dejing stepped forward and said.

"My minister speaks sense." The Chongzhen Emperor grunted in acknowledgment and nodded, saying: "Wang Cheng'en, after court adjourns, go back and tell him—the Annam Governor-General has always been my decision to make. Le Duy Hữu is nothing but a young upstart. Without my decree, how did he make himself Governor-General?"

"Whether Annam Governor-General or King of Annam, the Great Ming only recognizes that Le Duy Kỳ. As for this Le Duy Hữu, let him wait quietly until I die, then succeed to the position." Having said this, the Chongzhen Emperor gave a cold laugh and continued: "As for that so-called Trịnh Lord named Trịnh Tráng, tell him this as well: if he dares to set himself up independently, our army will certainly press in with overwhelming force. To repeat—the King of Annam, the Great Ming recognizes only one: Le Duy Kỳ!"

"Your Majesty is mighty!" Chief Grand Secretary Wei Zaode hurriedly led the chorus of shouts.

The assembled ministers also knelt in a wave: "Your Majesty is mighty!"

The Annam matter was but a minor interlude. The Chongzhen Emperor also understood that although the present Great Ming had survived the death-knell of 1644, it was still teetering on the brink. Those words in court were merely to maintain the dignity and face of the Celestial Dynasty as suzerain.

Within Annam, the Trịnh Lord Trịnh Tráng dominated alone, holding military and political power in his hands—even the deposition and installation of kings was his to decide at will. After the other party received the intentions of this Great Ming Emperor, what he would actually do—whether to continue going his own way or be cowed by my kingly aura—was simply not a matter worth concerning oneself over. A token effort was sufficient. As long as your Trịnh Tráng did not relinquish power, it was impossible for the Great Ming to recognize him as King of Annam.

In other words, the Chongzhen Emperor was currently overwhelmed by affairs in his own backyard, did not believe Trịnh Tráng would relinquish power at all, and had no leisure to bother with Annam's regime change. This time, he had set an impossible condition, which served to fob the matter off.

As for the present Great Ming: in the northeast, the Tartar slaves of the Qing wanted to enter the Central Plains; in the north, besides the Mongols, there were also the Russian barbarians who might come at any time to grab territory; in the northwest and the Sichuan region, the roving bandits of the Great Shun and Great Western kingdoms were single-mindedly trying to force him to hang himself.

Time waits for no one—he needed to urgently develop new armies, manufacture guns and cannons, and climb the technology tree. Just as the Chongzhen Emperor thought of this after court, Bi Maokang of the Armory Bureau arrived at the Winter Warm Pavilion, claiming to bear great tidings of joy.

The Chongzhen Emperor promptly received this firearms expert with high honors. Before he could even ask a question, he saw Bi Maokang kowtow excitedly and shout:

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! The first batch of craftsmen and materials from Zheng Zhilong arrived in the capital this morning—the quantity is enormous. Your minister and the officials of the Armory Bureau have been checking all day and still have not finished." Having said this, Bi Maokang, tears streaming down his aged face, continued:

"Aside from the essential materials, Zheng Zhilong has sent over three hundred craftsmen from Portugal and various other countries, plus five hundred fine flintlock bird-gun muskets. But that is not the main thing—the Zheng family shipped a full four heavy culverin long cannons weighing a thousand catties each! If Your Majesty gives the order, your minister can produce more than ten replicas within a month!"

"Wait, don't rush." Looking at the agitated Bi Maokang, the Chongzhen Emperor raised his hand and said: "The red barbarian cannon also weighs a thousand catties. Why not build the red barbarian cannon instead of this one? Is this cannon's power greater than the red barbarian cannon?"

"Your Majesty, forgive me—your minister misspoke." Bi Maokang thought to himself that he had been too excited and discourteous, even getting his words wrong. Only after apologizing did he calm down somewhat and say: "Your minister spoke wrongly just now. Your minister believes that the Great Ming's firearms are numerous and miscellaneous—much dross and lacking the essence. Like a physician's method of treating patients, replication is forever treating the symptoms, not the root cause."

"These four cannons are an opportunity for our Great Ming. Your Majesty must not replicate them, but rather learn from these four cannons the Western technology that our Great Ming lacks, thereby strengthening the new army's combat effectiveness."

Having said this, Bi Maokang sighed, his expression suddenly darkening, and continued earnestly: "Your Majesty, what the Great Ming has always lacked is never firearms, but rather the various finely crafted technologies!"

Had it been the historical figure who heard these words by some twist of fate, his heart would at this moment be filled with conservative and outdated worries about ancestral laws and such. But the present Chongzhen Emperor was full of eager enthusiasm, immediately taking interest, and asked:

"What kinds of technologies are these?"

"To answer Your Majesty—take this culverin cannon, for example. It is divided into small, large, medium, and medium four types. The four that Zheng Zhilong shipped to the capital this time are heavy culverin long cannons weighing a thousand catties each, with power comparable to the red barbarian giant cannons." Bi Maokang, at the Chongzhen Emperor's gesture, stood up and sat on a seat to the side, catching his breath before continuing:

"Cannons of this type weigh a thousand catties, yet the Westerners can still drag them around for mobile operations. But we can only place ours on city walls for defense, exposed to wind and rain, yet hard-pressed to gain their proper utility. Is it merely because their cannons are lighter?"

Having said this, Bi Maokang laughed self-deprecatingly and continued:

"Actually, it is not so. Your minister exchanged ideas on this matter with Bureau Secretary Lord Song of the Armory Bureau. The two of us then went to ask Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest of the Directorate of Astronomy, and only then obtained a unanimous opinion—it is all because our gun carriages are inferior to the West's."

"The gun carriages the Westerners use to tow cannons are all two-wheeled carts, with the carriage's tail support connected to a front cart harnessed with draft animals. Turning and long-distance hauling are both very convenient. When the cannon fires, the two side wheels and the tail support behind the carriage form a stable triangular brace."

"Furthermore, as for the problem of heavy solid wheels, the Westerners transformed them into large wooden wheels with spokes. In this way, the weight is gone, and they can also come and go with ease."

"And this wheel is merely one of the technologies our nation needs to learn from the foreigners!"