February of the twenty-fifth year of Chongzhen.

This year, spring in Beijing came earlier than last year.

On the canal water system in the east of Beijing, which has just undergone a round of renovation and has become unobstructed, the ice has long been melted, but occasionally a little bit of residual ice floats on the quietly flowing water. These ice floes are caused by the temperature dropping to

What freezes when it's below freezing is only a thin layer near the river bank. It will melt when the temperature warms up during the day, and it won't affect navigation at all.

Winter is definitely the coldest time for Beijing, the most prosperous capital of the Ming Dynasty. Although this capital of the Ming Dynasty is not lively in spring, summer and autumn, after all, you can get to Beijing through Tongzhou.

The canal at Gukou and the shipping outside Dagukou were connected to the rich and gentle land in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty, and the silk, porcelain, tea, rice and grain, weapons and armor, the four treasures of the study, and other miscellaneous artifacts produced in the southeast were obtained. However, in the cold winter, the canal was frozen

, the sea surface at Dagukou also froze into a piece. Transportation throughout Beijing and the prosperous land southeast of the Ming Dynasty was suddenly interrupted. Although the official roads on land are still open, compared with the ultra-low cost of sea transportation,

Land transportation is really not competitive at all. Moreover, since the 17th year of Chongzhen, the climate in the north has become much humid, and there are scenes of thousands of miles of snow falling in winter. Although this is auspicious snow that can herald a good harvest, it will be closed.

Roads and traffic are cut off. Therefore, every winter, not only the canals leading to the sea are frozen, but also the roads leading to Yanshan, Daning and other places are impassable due to heavy snow.

After more than 20 years of Emperor Chongzhen's rule in the north of Beijing, it has been completely reduced from a prosperous city that was one of the four gathering places in the world to a military town. In addition to a few court officials, the city is home to various armies and military academies.

There are non-commissioned officers (non-commissioned officers of the Guards Corps and the Junior Guards Corps), as well as servants serving the royal family and the powerful, and there are also a small number of traders who can only meet the needs of the Beijing military and civilians with a total number of less than 200,000.

So when winter comes and the vendors who have nothing to sell go home to celebrate the New Year, the last bit of prosperity in Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, seems to have completely disappeared, leaving only the inviolable majesty and chilling chill.

.

The Dianqian Army, Youth Army, Guard Corps and Youth Guard Corps stationed in Beijing were elite soldiers created by Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty who had been in power for nearly 25 years. They would not sleep in the camp just because of the cold weather.

The colder the weather, the more likely Emperor Chongzhen would panic, so he would be more energetic in training them! From time to time, there would be a night shift, which was really hard work...

And when the spring of the year came, Emperor Chongzhen got busy, either preparing to go to the Jinlianchuan grassland to meet the Mongols, or going to Tianjin to inspect. While Beijing's industrial and commercial functions were almost stripped away, Tianjin, which is close to the sea,

The government has received an opportunity for development!

Many industrial and commercial people who originally did business in Beijing have now moved to Tianjin one after another (Beijing household registration has become Tianjin household registration). Many official warehouses and official treasury originally located in Beijing are also located in Tianjin because of Tianjin's convenient transportation and low transportation costs.

They also moved there together.

Therefore, every spring and summer, as long as Chongzhen was not patrolling Jiangnan or leading troops outside, he would definitely find time to visit Tianjin.

At the same time that Chongzhen left Beijing, on the canal, a fleet of special efforts was already working hard to transport various commodities from the south, including overseas spices and treasures, through the shallow water canal.

The businessmen who went home to spend the winter also rushed back to the capital early to start their business for another year. There were also some who did not spend the winter in Beijing, but returned to Yanshan, Daning, Liaoxi and other places before the heavy snow closed the mountains.

The honorable nobles from Maodong in Xunzhuang also came on horseback and in chariots.

The whole city of Beijing woke up because of this!

However, this year is a little different from the past few years. The great emperor Zhu Youjian, who spent the whole winter in Beijing, did not go out for a walk after the spring, but still stayed in Xiyuan Palace and did not go anywhere.

Such abnormal behavior once caused some doubts among Beijingers who were accustomed to the emperor going out. Did His Majesty, the wise and mighty Emperor, suffer from some serious illness and could no longer move around? Should the Queen Mother in charge of the southeast be next?

Will His Highness Nephew Kunimoto continue to lead the Tomorrow Dynasty?

This great nephew is the richest man in the world! He is the best at managing money. If the Ming Dynasty were managed by him, would everyone's life be more prosperous? Can Beijing, the most virtuous city, return to its past?

Prosperity gathered around the world?

It's a pity that these people with good wishes will be disappointed. Because Zhu Youjian is doing well. He eats deliciously and is in great health! In this winter alone, six concubines became pregnant... But

The fact that he did not go out this spring was indeed related to the health condition of a certain person. That person was not him, but Tokugawa Iemitsu, the Japanese general who conquered barbarians!

As soon as the harbor in Dagukou, Tianjin Prefecture, thawed, a bird boat owned by the "Korea House" hurriedly arrived, bringing the news that "Iemitsu was dying" to Emperor Chongzhen!

"It is absolutely true that Tokugawa Iemitsu, the thief, must have been seriously ill and may have died! Because since December last year, no one has claimed to have seen Tokugawa Iemitsu except for the shogunate's senior officer and Wakatanagi...

..."

The person who was reporting to Zhu Youjian the news that Iaguang was seriously ill was the owner of Koryoya Shiro. This man was originally a Chinese, his surname was Li, and his name was Li Si. He was from Fujian and was from the same hometown as Zheng Zhilong and Li Dan. He seemed to be friends with Li

Once I got acquainted with him, I always did business in Nagasaki and Hirado. However, my business was not big and I was a low-class businessman.

But when Zhu Cijiong went to Japan to marry Emperor Xingzi in the 18th year of Chongzhen, he seized the opportunity and took refuge with Zhu Cijiong, becoming the latter's royal businessman.

Because he was engaged in trade between Korea and Japan, he changed his name to Koryoya Shiro. And the Koryoya he founded became Zhu Cijiong's organization for collecting domestic intelligence in Japan.

Later, when Zhu Cijiong went to the Hajj after conquering the "Zhengbai Banner Kingdom" of Dorgon, Duduo, and Azige, he introduced the fourth son of Gaoliwu to Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian ordered him to join the Jinyiwei and be responsible for collecting intelligence on Japan.

Hearing what Korya Shiro said with certainty, Zhu Youjian frowned slightly because he did not get any report from Zhu Cixiang that Tokugawa Iemitsu was seriously ill...

Zhu Cihong had a very good relationship with Tokugawa Iemitsu. His concubine, Tsukihime, was Iemitsu's adopted daughter. And his father-in-law, Zheng Zhilong, had been doing business with the Tokugawa family for a long time. How could he not know that Iemitsu was seriously ill?

Knowing but not reporting it shows that Zhu Cihong does not support Zhu Cijiong's plan to seize Japan!

"Does Prince Ning and Xingwu Yuan know?" Zhu You asked.

"I've already sent someone to notify you, I should have known about it a long time ago!"

That's for sure!

The residence of Zhu Jijiong and Heungmuwon is in Busanpo, just across the strait from Japan. Moreover, Busanpo is not frozen and can be navigable in winter.

"Got it!" Zhu Youjian waved to Shiro Gaoliwu and asked him to exit his West Nuan Pavilion in Wansheng Hall.

"Your Majesty," the person who accompanied Zhu Youjian to see Goryōya Shiro was Hong Chengchou, the first assistant. Hong Chengchou could best understand Emperor Chongzhen's thoughts. Seeing his expression, he immediately said, "His Royal Highness Kunimoto and Iemitsu have a relationship with their son-in-law. I can't bear it."

It is understandable to see the Tokugawa family perish."

"Does he care about his son-in-law's affection?" Zhu Youjian snorted, "He doesn't want the colonization of America to be delayed..."

"Your Majesty," Hong Chengchou said with a smile, "the matter of colonizing America is indeed very important... The Spanish are sending a fleet to New Spain recently, and war may start at any time. Therefore, Chitose is speeding up the transportation of troops there, and he is determined to do so.

For the country.”
Chapter completed!