Chapter 3 A way out

Chapter 3 A way out

Chapter 3 A way out
They can't do this, they can't do that, and the salaries given by the court are discounted and often not paid on time, so they owe more and more. How do you think the royal family members can live?

In order to survive, many royal families had to think of other ways, even taking the risk of violating regulations.

Some members of the royal family took advantage of their status to become hooligans and made a living by extorting merchants in the city.

Some members of the royal family also joined forces to engage in fraud and deception, and did the work of the black gang.

There were even members of the royal family who simply concealed their identities and secretly worked as tenants to farm other people's land.

There are so many strange things in the royal family that I can’t finish talking about them even in three days and three nights. If I talk more, I will just burst into tears!
As a member of the lower-ranking royal family, Zhu Shenzhui was naturally not much better off. Moreover, after his father and brother passed away, he was the only man in the family. If he wanted to survive, he had to do some things.

Even though Zhu Shencui got a few taels of silver in salary today, Zhang didn't know that Zhu Shencui's main purpose was not to get the salary from the prefect Yu Zhida. He just went to the government office frequently under the pretext of asking for salary.

Under the pretext of asking for salary, he became a frequent visitor to the prefectural government office. He would go there from time to time to hang out, sit there for free, and have some tea or snacks.

The key is that the prefectural government is well-informed, and he can get some news from the yamen runners and doormen when he has nothing to do. More importantly, the prefectural government also has the post bulletin to read, which is the only channel for Zhu Shenzhu to obtain important information in this era.

Zhu Shenzhui got some silver from Yu Zhida today. Logically, he should be happy, but the imperial report he saw in the prefectural yamen today made him worried.

At the beginning of March this year, the dust settled on the Battle of Sarhu. The Ming Dynasty suffered a crushing defeat in this battle. Except for Li Rubai who survived the retreat, the rest of the 200,000 elite troops were almost wiped out.

In this battle, the Ming army lost a total of about 45800 troops, more than 300 generals were killed in battle, more than 28000 mules and horses were lost, more than 20000 guns and muskets were lost, and the army was severely damaged.

After the war, the Later Jin army took advantage of the situation to capture Kaiyuan and Tieling and conquered the Yehe tribe. Chiefs Jin Taiji and Buyanggu were killed, and the rest of the tribe surrendered to Jianzhou.

What was even more terrible was that Liu Jing, known as the most powerful general of the Ming Dynasty, died for his country. Liu Jing was very famous in the army and was a banner of the Ming army. His death had a great impact, causing the morale of the Ming army to drop after the defeat. From this, there was a rumor that the Jurchens were invincible if they had less than 10,000 men, but more than 10,000. In addition, the Later Jin took advantage of the victory to attack cities and territories, and the situation in Liaodong changed drastically.

It has been nearly half a year since the war started and ended. The commander-in-chief Yang Hao has been convicted and has been detained and returned to Beijing.

Logically speaking, this matter should have spread long ago, but this era is not the information age of later generations. The distance is long and the transmission of information is inconvenient.

In addition, the Ming army was defeated in Liaodong, and the imperial court was shocked. The cabinet blocked some information from the outside world. Zhu Shenzhui in Pingyang Prefecture only learned intermittently through some channels that a major event had occurred in Liaodong, but he was not very clear about what had happened. It was not until today that he learned the truth from the post report.

The Battle of Sarhu had a great impact on the Ming Dynasty and was the beginning of its complete decline. After this battle, Liaodong was in decline, the Later Jin Dynasty rose, natural disasters and man-made disasters, local rebellions broke out, and the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse under such internal and external troubles. It struggled for decades and finally collapsed.

Zhu Shenzhui did not study history in his previous life, but he still knew something about some major events in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. When he saw those events and words that frightened him in the post report, the information deep in his memory suddenly became clear. The early winter weather actually frightened Zhu Shenzhui so much that he broke out in a sweat.

Closing his eyes, Zhu Shenzui seemed to see war raging everywhere and corpses everywhere.

The Eight Banners, with their shaved rat tails, marched into the city with ferocious laughter, brandishing long swords, drawing bows, and galloping on horses. Cities were ablaze, and the people of the Ming Dynasty died under the butcher's knife.

When the Manchus entered the country, the Han people lost all their clothing, their traditions were wiped out, and their backbones were broken… From then on, China was occupied for 276 years. Thinking of this, Zhu Shenzui showed a look of pain on his face.

The troubled times are coming, human life is worthless, and only one in ten will survive under the sword and war.

After coming to this era, Zhu Shenzui has never felt such fear as today, as if a pair of invisible hands were covering him, strangling his neck so tightly that he could not breathe. He wanted to escape but could not, and he wanted to resist but was powerless. Zhu Shenzui felt like an ant whose fate had long been determined and would be crushed to pieces.

Zhu Shenzhui knew very well that the Wanli Dynasty was about to end. What followed was the Taichang Dynasty, which lasted only a month. The next emperor was the famous carpenter emperor Tianqi. Tianqi served for a few years, and then Chongzhen took over. Seventeen years later, Li Zicheng broke through the city of Beijing, and Chongzhen was hanged on Coal Hill, and the Ming Dynasty perished...

Although the Southern Ming Dynasty persisted for decades, the Ming Dynasty had already ceased to exist after Chongzhen. After the Ming Dynasty was destroyed, the royal family naturally did not fare much better. As the saying goes, if the skin is gone, the hair will fall off. Zhu Shenzhu did not want to be buried with the Ming Dynasty.

If you stick your head out, you'll get a knife. If you hide your head, you'll get a knife too. Zhu Shencui has been making preparations for the past two years. Now that the news from Sarhu has come, Zhu Shencui is even more anxious. In this chaotic world, Zhu Shencui plans to give it a try and find a way out.

In the early morning, the rooster crows.

Zhu Shenzui got up early as usual. After washing up, he went to the yard and practiced a set of boxing.

Speaking of this boxing style, it was taught to him by his father and brother, and Zhu Shenzui has been practicing it since he was a child.

Different from the boxing styles of later generations, this set of boxing is simple and neat, with no routines at all. There are only about a dozen moves in total. It does not seek to look good, but to be quick, fierce, and to defeat the enemy in one move.

After hitting him several times, Zhu Shenzhui broke out in a thin layer of sweat. He stopped and calmed his breathing, then took out a wooden stick from the side.

This wooden stick is neither long nor short, about four feet and three inches, and is made of jujube wood.

Jujube wood is very common in the north. Jujube wood is relatively hard and is perfect for making household items. For example, commonly used rolling pins are mostly made of jujube wood. The jujube wood stick in Zhu Shenzui's hand is as thick as an egg and fits perfectly in his hand.

Zhu Shenzhui stood in the yard, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then began to practice with the stick.

The moves he used for practicing with the stick were as simple as his previous boxing techniques, consisting of only five movements: poking, pressing, blocking, picking, and chopping.

In theory, the real stick method is far more than these five moves. There are at least thirteen basic stick methods. However, Zhu Shenzhui completely abandoned those complicated moves and practiced these five moves in the past two years. The key lies in two points. First, although his jujube wood stick is hard, it lacks elasticity, so many complicated moves cannot be performed. Second, Zhu Shenzhui's practice is also targeted. His moves need to be simple rather than complicated. Simply practicing these five moves to a deep level is the most practical.

Moreover, the five moves of poking, pressing, blocking, picking and chopping can be used not only on sticks, but also on swords. Zhu Shenzhui's practice naturally has his own deep meaning. As long as he practices well, ordinary weapons can also play the greatest role in his hands.

"Hi...ha...hi...huh..."

Zhu Shenzhui practiced one move after another very seriously, using 70% of his strength for each move, leaving only 30% in his hands. The stick in his hand flew, coordinating with the movements of his feet, moving back and forth. After practicing for more than half an hour, Zhu Shenzhui's head was steaming when he finished.

"Uncle, wipe your face and have dinner." After finishing his move, Zhu Shenzhui took a deep breath. Zhang came over from the main room holding Qiao'er.

"Thank you, sister-in-law." Zhu Shenzhui said, and took the towel handed to him by Zhang and wiped his sweat. The lovely Qiao'er stared at Zhu Shenzhui with her big round eyes in Zhang's arms, giggling and stretching out her little hands for him to hold her, shouting "Father...Father..."

When her father and brother left, Qiao'er was still very young and could not even recognize people. Over the past year, she has grown up gradually and learned to speak simple words and walk.

Qiao'er would naturally call Zhang mother, but logically she should call Zhu Shencui uncle. However, who would have thought that a child of such age might not be able to call him uncle properly, so she simply omitted the first word and called him "father". Zhang corrected her several times, but Qiao'er didn't change. Instead, Zhu Shencui didn't care at all and said that uncle is also father. Since Qiao'er likes, let her call him that.

"Uncle is sweating. Can I wait until I change my clothes before I hug you? Qiao'er, be good and obedient. Have you had your meal?" Zhu Shenzui looked at the little baby with a smile. The Zhu family has very good genes. Zhu Shenzui and his two sons are all handsome. They are said to look very much like the ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang. After all, the Jin vassal lineage is the legitimate son of Zhu, so it is normal for descendants to look like their ancestor.

Not to mention Qiao'er, a two-year-old girl, delicate and adorable. Although Zhu Shenzhui had never been married in his previous life, he always liked children and dreamed of having his own children. Now, although he is still single, he treats Qiao'er as his own daughter, no different from his own daughter.

"I have used it, and I used a cake. It's...this big." Qiao'er said with a giggle, and her little hand was used to gesture to Zhu Shenzhui. After gesturing for a while, she seemed to think it was too small, so she gestured a little bigger.

Her cute look made Zhu Shenzhui laugh. He reached out and touched her head, teased her for a few words, and then asked Zhang to take the child back to the house.

Although it is only late autumn and early winter, the weather has not yet reached its coldest point, but the children are too young and it would be bad for them to catch a cold if they stay outside for a long time.

(End of this chapter)