novelSusiti Chapter 155 The Tianqi Emperor is deeply hurt
Chapter 155 The Tianqi Emperor is deeply hurt
Chapter 155 The Tianqi Emperor is deeply hurt
Chapter 154 Shen Chuanchuan never expected that Yang Hongliang, who was usually very timid, would dare to attack him. He hurriedly pulled off his mask, revealing his face, and hysterically roared, "Yang Hongliang, you better look carefully, it's me, I'm Shen Chuanchuan—"
"Shen Chuanwen, who do you think you are? If it weren't for the fact that you're surnamed Shen, you piece of trash would have starved to death."
Yang Hongliang's awl didn't stop; he stabbed Shen Chuanchuan again and again. Shen Chuanchuan fell into a pool of blood, his eyes still open until his death. He probably couldn't understand how Yang Hongliang, that coward who wouldn't even dare to raise his voice, that spineless man who would kneel and beg for mercy for his son, dared to lay a hand on him.
"Yang Hongliang! Are you crazy?"
Another masked assassin, filled with shock and rage, swung his knife at Yang Hongliang. Yang Hongliang didn't dodge; fearing he wouldn't be able to defeat Shen Chuanchuan, he stabbed Shen Chuanchuan into a sieve. At the same time, his chest, shoulder, and arm were successively stabbed, blood gushing out, but he held onto Shen Chuanchuan tightly, refusing to let go. The awl was still stuck in Shen Chuanchuan's throat; Yang Hongliang's hand gripped the handle, his knuckles white, as if welded to the surface.
"Kill him!"
Someone shouted sternly.
A flash of light, and Yang Hongliang was slashed in the back again. He finally collapsed, falling onto Shen Chuanchuan, muttering something under his breath. The assassin closest to him leaned down to listen, only to hear him say intermittently, "Father—useless—"
But Father—I can't be a traitor!
The assassin paused for a moment, then slashed down with his blade.
Yang Hongliang's voice came to an abrupt end.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. From Shen Chuanchuan issuing the order to Yang Hongliang's betrayal and assassination attempt on Shen Chuanchuan, only a dozen breaths had passed. Two corpses lay, their blood already flowing like streams. Yang Hongliang closed his eyes. He didn't know if what he had done was worth it, but he knew that some things could be done, and some things, even at the cost of death, could not. The brothers of the Sand Boat Gang had suffered for over a hundred years; they had waited for a superior like Chen Boying for over a hundred years.
He witnessed countless babies being drowned by their own parents, these children not even having a chance to see the world clearly. He saw countless people, like him, sell their sons and daughters to survive. It wasn't that they were heartless or cruel, but simply that, as human beings, it was too difficult to live.
If he were to kill a corrupt official, he wouldn't hesitate even if it meant being torn to pieces. But the problem is, he's being asked to kill Chen Boying, the man who gave them hope—that's aiding and abetting evil.
As blood flowed freely, the air was filled with the stench of blood, which began to spread in all directions. For ordinary people, the smell of blood was not easy to detect, but for veterans who had been through many battles, the smell could be detected from a great distance.
"You are surrounded! Lay down your weapons and surrender!"
Upon smelling the blood, the soldiers of the Shahe New Army on patrol quickly surrounded the area. The assassins didn't even have time to deal with the bodies before they were surrounded.
"Hurry up!"
The new army platoon leader in Shahe realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately said, "Leave a few alive, but don't let a single one escape!"
More than fifty soldiers of the Shahe New Army pounced on the still-resisting assassins like wolves and tigers. Crossbow bolts, muskets, swords, and clattered all around. Although the assassins were fierce and brave, they were no match for the sheer number of people. In a short while, three or four of them were captured alive, and the rest were all killed.
"Reporting, sergeant, we've captured four alive!"
"Interrogate them! Interrogate them immediately! Ask them if they have any accomplices!"
Chen Ying has been very busy lately. He has finally come to understand how difficult it is to be a leader. Although he is very disgusted by grandstanding, the problem is that as the Commander-in-Chief of Da Ning, he is different from the Commanders-in-Chief in the interior. The Commanders-in-Chief of the two capitals and thirteen provinces only need to be responsible for training troops and maintaining security in their jurisdictions. Their work is relatively much lighter than his. But the problem is that he needs to manage the military, the people, and also supervise commercial affairs.
With over 30,000 members of the Sand Ship Gang joining him, he had to meet with these representatives every day to inquire about their satisfaction with their lives. He also had to provide medical treatment and medicine to the injured and sick craftsmen. He had become the kind of person he hated.
Just as Chen Ying was about to rest, Wang Tiezhu walked in: "General, something has happened."
"What is it?"
Wang Tiezhu told him about the patrol team's discovery of the murder, their quick encirclement, and the capture of survivors: "We captured four alive, and they've already confessed. It was Shen Chuanchuan who orchestrated it. He recruited more than a dozen ruthless thugs in the Sand Boat Gang, intending to make a move during your inspection. Unexpectedly, Yang Hongliang suddenly changed his mind and killed Shen Chuanchuan. He was also killed by the other assassins."
Chen Ying was silent for a moment, then slowly asked, "Where is his body?"
"Inspected!"
"A lavish funeral."
Chen Ying closed his eyes and said, "Posthumously confer upon him the rank of sixth grade, with a pension equivalent to that of a fallen soldier. His son will be enrolled in a school, and his daughter will be sent to Jiangnan to find her and redeem her. The cost will be deducted from my salary."
"Yes."
Chen Ying added, "Don't implicate the Shachuan Gang. Shen Chuanchuan is Shen Chuanchuan, and the others are the others. Let Shen Huai'an manage his own people. They should do their jobs and go to work as required. Anyone who dares to cause trouble will be severely punished."
"Yes, sir!"
Chen Ying was well aware that after Emperor Tianqi ascended the throne, the Donglin Party, led by the radical Zhao Nanxing, began to eliminate dissidents under the guise of the "Palace Relocation Case" and the "Red Pill Case," which lasted for three years. Emperor Tianqi could no longer tolerate this and had to execute Ma Su with tears in his eyes, thus turning his attention to the Donglin Party, which had contributed to his ascension to the throne. The Ming Dynasty made the same mistake twice. After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, the Donglin Party came to power again, and they began to carry out a six-year-long purge under the pretext of eliminating the eunuch faction.
Not only did they miss the time for recovery, but they also exhausted the limited national strength of the Ming Dynasty. Chen Ying faced the same problem. He had just accepted the surrender of the Sand Ship Gang and the people's hearts were not stable. Now, the third leader of the Sand Ship Gang had tried to assassinate him. If they launched a larger crackdown, it would definitely cause the members of the Sand Ship Gang to become disloyal. This would be like doing a favor for someone else.
The Lushun Shipbuilding Bureau office was eerily silent.
The day after Shen Chuan was killed, the news spread throughout Lushun. More than 30,000 craftsmen were in a state of panic. Some secretly packed their bags and prepared to flee, some gathered together and whispered among themselves, and some knelt at Shen Huai'an's door, crying and begging for their lives.
Shen Huai'an locked himself in his room, refusing to see anyone. On the table in front of him were Shen Chuanchuan's belongings: three letters that had not yet been destroyed. The letters were written by Qian Qianyi, with cryptic wording but a clear meaning: after the assassination of Chen Boying, the sand ship gang would be under Shen Chuanchuan's control, the Great Ming Society would rebuild the Nanjing Shipyard, he would enjoy a fourth-rank official position, and the Donglin Party would guarantee his family's wealth and status for generations.
"Second Uncle, oh Second Uncle—"
Shen Huai'an burst into tears: "Are you confused? What kind of good person do you think Qian Qianyi is? What he gave you was just bait."
You've swallowed the bait, but the hook's still in your throat!
There was a knock at the door. Shen Huai'an wiped away his tears and said in a deep voice, "Come in."
The ones who came in were several old leaders of the Sand Boat Gang. They were all old brothers who had fought alongside Shen Huai'an for decades, and their faces were full of worry.
"Boss—Director!"
A gray-haired, elderly temple master asked in a trembling voice, "What did the commander say?"
Shen Huai'an handed the letter to them. They read it once, and their expressions varied.
"This is... a letter from Shen Chuanwen?"
"He colluded with the Donglin Party to assassinate the Marshal. The Marshal didn't implicate anyone, only saying that Shen Chuanchuan was Shen Chuanchuan, and everyone else was someone else." Go to work when you're supposed to, go to work when you're supposed to.
The group looked at each other, none of them daring to believe it.
"Boss, Commander-in-Chief—are you really not going to pursue this?"
"We won't pursue this further." Shen Huai'an stood up, indignantly saying, "But we must remember, our lives were given to us by the Commander-in-Chief. From now on, if anyone dares to betray us again, I'll be the first to chop them up without the Commander-in-Chief even lifting a finger!"
Everyone was awed.
When the news reached the construction site, the workers were first shocked, then filled with fear, and finally overwhelmed by a complex mix of emotions. Some secretly wiped away tears, some silently burned incense, and some knelt on the ground, kowtowing towards the direction of the command post.
"Master Yang—he's a real man."
"What a pity, such a good person."
"His son is still at the construction site. I heard that the commander-in-chief arranged for him to go to school."
"The commander's magnanimity is truly beyond words."
Amidst the murmurs, a young craftsman suddenly asked, "Why did Master Yang betray us? Wasn't he one of Shen Chuanwen's men?"
No one can answer that.
An old craftsman put down his tools, looked at the shipyard under reconstruction in the distance, and said slowly, "You don't understand. We, the people of the Sand Ship Gang, have been craftsmen for generations, building ships for the government and transporting goods for merchants. But we have always had a dream in our hearts: when will the ships we build be able to sail the seas for the Ming Dynasty, fight for the court, and stop the foreign devils from bullying us?"
He paused, his voice choked with emotion: "Master Yang, that's just the kind of person he is. He was poor and suffered his whole life, but he wasn't stupid. He knew who was truly good to us and who was using us as pawns."
Everyone fell silent.
In the distance, at the construction site of Shipyard No. 1, the keel of the giant ship had been laid, and the ribs were being installed. In the sunlight, the hull gleamed with a dark golden light, like a colossal beast awakening.
Yang Dapeng stood by the dock, clutching the "work points card" in his hand, tears silently streaming down his face. His father was gone, but his father had left him a path, a dignified path.
He looked up at the giant ship under construction and murmured, "Father, don't worry. Your son will do a good job and won't let you down."
Shenyang, the Palace of Sweating.
Nurhaci leaned back in his tiger-skin chair, holding a secret report that had just arrived from Lushun in his hand. His face was so gloomy it looked like it could be squeezed dry, his fingers trembled slightly, and his veins bulged.
Huang Taiji, Daishan, Mangultai, and other Beile stood below, not daring to utter a sound. Outside the tent, horns sounded one after another as the generals of the twelve banners assembled, awaiting the Khan's orders.
"One million shi of grain, two million taels of silver—all intercepted by Chen Boying?"
Huang Taiji lowered his head: "Yes. The sand ship gang has also surrendered to Chen Boying. Now the shipyard in Lushun is several times larger than that on Dalu Island. According to reports from spies, Chen Boying has built more than a dozen docks there, and thousands of craftsmen are working day and night to build hundreds of warships."
Nurhaci was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed.
That smile contained anger, resentment, and a hint of inexplicable helplessness.
"What a Chen Boying! He intercepted the grain that I, the Khan, had extorted from the Donglin Party; he also thwarted my plan to use the Donglin Party to eliminate the Tianqi Emperor. This man is my nemesis."
Huang Taiji said softly, "Father, then let's—"
"All banners return to their posts; the operation is cancelled." Nurhaci stood up, walked to the map, and looked in the direction of Lushun. "The more firmly Chen Boying manages Lushun, the harder it will be for us to establish a foothold in southern Liaoning. Now is not the time to fight him head-on. We will wait until next spring to make further plans."
"Yes."
The princes filed out, leaving only Nurhaci inside the tent. He slowly sat down, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and murmured, "Chen Boying, what exactly are you—"
Meanwhile, in Ningyuan City.
The Tianqi Emperor sat in the backyard of the General's Mansion, a chess game laid out before him, yet he hesitated to place a piece. Sun Chengzong stood to the side, his expression calm, but his eyes frequently darted towards the emperor's face.
"Master Sun," the Tianqi Emperor suddenly spoke, his voice tinged with disappointment, "Am I really that useless?"
Sun Chengzong was taken aback: "Why does Your Majesty say such a thing?"
The Tianqi Emperor put down his chess piece and said with a wry smile, "I put myself in the game, hoping to lure the Jurchens to attack from Ningyuan, so that you and Chen Boying could attack from both sides in southern and western Liaoning. But the Jurchens didn't come, and Chen Boying intercepted the Donglin Party's grain and silver. I, the bait, didn't even catch any fish."
Just as Sun Chengzong was about to speak, hurried footsteps sounded outside, and a Jinyiwei centurion entered, kneeling on the ground: "Your Majesty, an urgent report from Lushun!"
The Tianqi Emperor took the secret report, read it through, and his expression changed. He handed the report to Sun Chengzong without saying a word.
After reading it, Sun Chengzong frowned deeply: "Shen Chuan, the third-in-command of the Sand Boat Gang, colluded with the Donglin Party to assassinate Chen Boying? Fortunately, a craftsman named Yang Hongliang betrayed him and thwarted the plan—did Chen Boying accept it?"
"Bo Ying is unharmed; the plan simply hasn't been implemented yet."
The Tianqi Emperor stood up, paced a few steps in the courtyard, and said angrily, "But I can't understand it. I've been here for a month and a half, and Ningyuan only has a little over ten thousand troops. Why haven't the Jurchens made a move?"
Sun Chengzong thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the Jurchens are not inactive, but they dare not act."
"You dare not?"
"Although Chen Boying's forces in Lushun are not large, he has a navy, cannons, and a fortified city. Nurhaci suffered two major defeats at Chen Boying's hands and is already wary of him. If he attacks Ningyuan, Chen Boying will definitely cut off his rear and seize Shenyang in the process. He certainly won't dare to act rashly. Even if he gets this money and supplies, he won't do anything!"
The Tianqi Emperor remained silent for a moment, then sighed, "So, I was just bait for nothing?"