Chapter 1419: Shamelessly Sharing the Nation's Rest

While Zhao Jin was still on the march with the main army, more news arrived: Sun Chuanting, the Governor-General of Shanxi, refused to obey the court's orders and kept his troops in place. The gentry and commoners of Datong in Shanxi were urging Sun Chuanting to protect the borders and pacify the people, and not to rashly start armed conflict.

This news was even more shocking than Zhao Jin leading his army north. Only at this moment did everyone truly realize that the Great Ming was finished — the local factions with real power no longer submitted to the court's authority.

Thinking carefully, it was no different from before. Wasn't the current court propped up solely by the troops of Elder Sun and Elder Wang? Otherwise, who would pay any attention to such an empty-title emperor — though the Chongzhen Emperor himself certainly didn't see it that way.

After the news of Sun Chuanting's refusal to obey the decree spread, the provinces immediately fell into chaos. Fortunately, local civil officials, military officers, together with powerful gentry, joined hands to suppress the unrest, barely maintaining the same half-dead, half-alive situation as before.

Because the Zhao Family Army had spread word through every trade route to as many prefectures, subprefectures, and counties as possible: if the localities kept order, there was still a chance for everyone to meet and talk; if chaos broke out, then everyone should look out for themselves — when the great army arrived, the blades would show no mercy.

If anyone else made such a threat, who would pay it any mind? But when it was Zhao Jin's words, no one dared disobey. Zhao the Heavenly King of Xuzhou had far too much blood on his hands — refugees, government troops, and now the Tartar slaves too. Mountains of corpses, seas of blood. Even such fierce foes had been defeated and slaughtered; everyone had best not seek their own death.

The Zhao Family Army's letters were only sent to the three provinces of Northern Zhili, Henan, and Shaanxi. Shanxi was maintained by Sun Chuanting, and given his style of work and governance, along with the Shanxi merchant consortium backing him, he would absolutely not permit Shanxi to descend into chaos.

As for the prefectures and counties of Jiangnan in Southern Zhili, and places like Zhejiang and Fujian — in these areas, those who controlled the localities were not the government offices, but the great and powerful clans. Jiangnan and Zhejiang were dominated by examination-degree lineages, while Fujian was controlled by maritime merchants who roamed the seas. Their relationship with the Zhao Family Army was one matter, but they likewise did not wish to see major chaos in their regions.

Of course, there were still Huguang, Sichuan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Yunnan, and the various border passes that had not been notified. But once Zhao Jin had seized the other regions, these remaining few would have not the slightest power to resist — there was no need to give them much thought at all.

"According to the original plan, we would calmly digest Shandong and the Jiangbei region of Southern Zhili, integrate the population, cultivate talent, and then use the troops trained and the talent nurtured in these places to attack and digest one region after another — rolling ever larger like a snowball, without any twists or turns, smoothly and logically receiving the whole realm."

"But how can matters of the world ever follow one's wishes so perfectly? Even if every place submits now, even if the surface is calm for a time, there will inevitably be twists and turns in the future. But there is nothing difficult about that — when difficulties arise, deal with them. Face them calmly, with an ordinary heart."

The provinces all responded very actively to the Zhao Family Army's demands. The Xuzhou men handling the matter were quite excited, believing this was the will of the people and that Heaven's Mandate was theirs.

However, the core leadership of the Zhao Family Army was not so excited. There were not so many cheap bargains to be had in this world.

The Great Ming's principle was that imperial authority did not extend below the county level; it was about the Son of Heaven ruling the realm together with the scholar-officials. Zhao Jin's system, by contrast, aimed to control every single person.

In the territory Zhao Jin controlled, he could mobilize every grain of rice and every person. Every activity was under control — either permitted, or subject to taxation. But the Great Ming was not like this. In the Great Ming, mobilization, tax collection, and administration were a constant game of bargaining — a tug-of-war and negotiation with the gentry, back-and-forth communication with the gentry's representatives. Every link was filled with embezzlement, waste, and trivialities, forming an extremely inefficient equilibrium.

This embezzlement, waste, and triviality were the very foundation upon which the local strongmen of the Great Ming stood. Their submission to the Zhao Family Army was precisely to preserve these privileges — or to preserve as many of them as possible.

What Xuzhou had prepared for them was a different path: to throw themselves into industry and commerce, or to contentedly enjoy the dividends of land production — not to control so many people or demand so much political power.

Perhaps some could recognize the greater trend and follow the Zhao Family Army's arrangements, finding a place for themselves in the new system. But wanting to abandon their own sources of wealth and give up their former status was not so easy. For now, in fear of authority, they would bow their heads, but sooner or later, out of discontent, they would resist — and at that time, there would be a bloody purge.

Rather than carrying out a ruthless purge and massacre after they submit, it would be better to slaughter them thoroughly while both sides are still enemies. But clearly, the current situation no longer allowed for that. They could only wait silently for the future.

Xuzhou was probably not alone in thinking this. The forces submitting elsewhere likely thought the same. Forced to bow and yield now, they would probably require another round of effort to deal with in the future.

"Henan and Shaanxi are already ruined. Jiangnan is different — the great clans are deeply entrenched, their interests profound. After more than two hundred years of this, they will not let outsiders touch this big pie. If chaos breaks out in the future, I fear it will begin in Jiangnan."

The words had been spoken plainly, but these were only internal discussions. Everyone knew that the most urgent matters at hand were not these.

Before Zhao Jin had even entered Dongchang Prefecture, someone came from the capital to deliver a message: they wished to pledge loyalty to the new dynasty, and even sought to obtain wealth and rank under Zhao Jin. Wanting to surrender and sell themselves out, they naturally could not come empty-handed. But the terms this person proposed left Zhao Jin and the others stunned — they said they would deliver the Chongzhen Emperor, Zhu Youjian, to Zhao Jin.

To actually offer such a pledge of allegiance — everyone was astonished, but they showed no particular enthusiasm. The Chongzhen Emperor was at most a symbol, not even a key piece. The key to the Great Ming now lay in the hands of those few ministers who controlled the troops. If one spoke of the civil being noble and the military base, the current Great Ming actually had a hint of that — except that these civil officials who held military power were themselves not much different from military commanders. They were now the Great Ming's biggest warlords.

The messenger who came to deliver the proposal did not receive a definite answer, but his attitude remained humble to an extreme degree. He agreed to relay messages for the Zhao Family Army and to follow the will of Heaven as much as possible.

As soon as this man left to return, his identity was investigated by the Internal Guard and the Intelligence Bureau. The man held no office or title; he was an advisor to a certain top-tier noble house of merit in the capital. The actions of this noble house were quite representative of the other dukes, marquises, and earls, and even some civil officials were implicated.

These nobles of merit who share the nation's rest, these scholar-officials who rule the realm together with the Son of Heaven — now they were about to sell out the very Son of Heaven who had given them glory, wealth, and rank. When one thought about it carefully, it was truly pitiful, lamentable, and laughable.

Others could not possibly know, nor could Zhao Jin's memory possibly retain so many details. In that timeline without Zhao Jin, when Li Zicheng's Shun army was about to enter the capital, the Chongzhen Emperor wanted his son-in-law to take his own son and flee — but the son-in-law tearfully refused. The Chongzhen Emperor tried to leave the city himself, but at the city gate he was forced back by the defending military officers with bows and arrows. Then he was told by ministers and purists that there must be no talk of moving the capital, that the Son of Heaven must stand together with the nation.

Those incompetent and decadent nobles of merit and civil officials wanted to sell the Chongzhen Emperor for a good price, to gain new-dynasty wealth and rank under Li Zicheng. Yet they could not even control Chongzhen. After Li Zicheng entered the capital, he swept them all away — truly acting out a comedy that only outsiders could laugh at.

In this timeline, they still wanted to sell him. It was just that Zhao Jin could not be bothered to buy. Zhao Jin had won every battle, enriched the state and strengthened the army, restored order amid chaos, and inspired people in decay. The Zhao Family Army was the strongest under Heaven — this was his legal legitimacy, this was his foundation. With all this, there was no need to put on some farce of humble refusal and abdication.

Of course, in the capital, Sun Chengzong and Wang Zaijin held military power, Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou controlled public opinion, Sun Chuanting guarded the west of the capital, and Xiong Tingbi garrisoned the east. These nobles and civil officials who wanted to speculate had no gap to exploit.

Zhao Jin's assessment of this act was a single word: "Stupid." They thought only of their own wealth and rank, never considering the danger right beside them. Acting rashly, I fear the only thing awaiting them is a bloodbath.

Think of those key ministers now propping up the Great Ming. In that timeline without Zhao Jin, Sun Chengzong did not return to the central government; under pressure from within and without, he resigned. In the end, when the Qing army entered the pass, Sun Chengzong and his entire family died fighting fiercely to defend the city. Xiong Tingbi did not emerge from the imperial prison; after the conflict between Wei Zhongxian and the Donglin faction intensified, he died in jail. Wang Zaijin, after returning to the capital from Liaodong, was entangled in factional strife and ultimately retired to his hometown, dying in obscurity at home.

And Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou were the pillars of the Donglin, locked in a death struggle with the eunuch faction to the very end. They were thus struck down most viciously by Wei Zhongxian's clique. Yet these two were upright and self-disciplined, with little family wealth. As a result, the wealthy Donglin partisans all fled back to their hometowns, while the two of them died miserably in prison. Even after death they could not rest in peace, for the Donglin elevated them onto a sacred altar.

Sun Chuanting, at this time, was idle at home. Only when the situation deteriorated greatly during the Chongzhen reign did Sun Chuanting step forward with righteous indignation, volunteering to go to Shaanxi, where the situation was worst, to suppress the refugees. But in that era, his greatest enemy was not Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong, but the Chongzhen Emperor, who obstructed him at every turn and was stubbornly self-opinionated. Arbitrary decrees from the capital made Sun Chuanting miss opportunity after opportunity and shoulder defeat after defeat. He was even imprisoned for this. By the time he was released, the situation was beyond salvaging. Yet Sun Chuanting did not flee, nor did he sell himself to the new dynasty — he died on the battlefield, giving his life for the nation.

In the timeline without Zhao Jin, the Great Ming owed these men a debt, but they did not owe the Great Ming anything. In this timeline, they were still struggling to hold on — but they could barely hold on any longer.

The main force led by Zhao Jin arrived at the city of Linqing Subprefecture just like any ordinary march. A vast amount of grain, fodder, and supplies were stockpiled here. This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision by the Zhao Family Army; ever since this place was first breached, it had been the Zhao Family Army's preparatory base camp for military operations against Northern Zhili.

In Linqing Subprefecture, the person giving orders was no longer the Subprefect of Linqing, nor the Prefect of Dongchang, nor even the Provincial Governor of Shandong. Only the Li family, father and son, held sway.

Supplies of all kinds were gathered, and various encampments were constructed. Everyone knew what this was being prepared for, yet every person in charge pretended not to know. Some even proactively offered convenience, saving goodwill for future encounters.

After the main army led by Zhao Jin converged with the Second Brigade, Linqing became the main camp. Once they saw the martial might and imposing presence of the Zhao Family Army, all those who had saved goodwill felt they had done nothing wrong.