Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 149 Coming and not being indecent

There seems to be better arrangements for Wu Sangui's troops!

With a flash of inspiration in his mind just now, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but stop writing and ponder the idea carefully.

This Dorgon gathered "all the soldiers of the country, men ranging from seventy to fifteen", and they all participated in the battle. The weak ones stayed in Liaodong, while the strong ones entered the pass.Now that the supply channel from the south to the capital has been cut off, does this mean that there will be a famine in the capital?

If that's the case, why don't you just come back and not reciprocate?
If Jianlu harasses the capital, I will harass Liaodong.It’s hard to dispatch the main force, so it’s okay to send a partial force, right?

Anyway, most of the Jianlu who stayed in Liaodong were old and weak. The better troops must be stationed in their capital city of Shenyang. The troops in other places must be very weak!
If Jianlu's illustrious reputation had existed in the past, few of the imperial officers and soldiers would have had the guts to do so.

But now, he has broken the myth of Jianlu being undefeated in the field and even sacrificed a blood sacrifice to a slave chieftain.Let all the officials and soldiers of the imperial court know that Jianlu is not invincible!

In this situation, there should be no problem, right?

If the situation in Liaodong is disturbed, I believe that the Jianlu in Liaodong will definitely send troops to ask for help. Then the old nest will be gone. Will Dorgon continue to stay in the pass and torment?

Is this to besiege Wei and save Zhao?
Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen thought it was okay, so he summoned Wang Chengen and Wu Sangui to see him.

Later, he summoned Fan Jingwen, the chief minister of the cabinet, to inquire about the grain supply.

Food has always been a top priority. Although Fan Jingwen did not know the latest trends of Jianlu, he was not suspicious. He just answered truthfully: "The capital's grain delivery was originally scheduled to be 400 million shi per year, mainly from southern Zhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Huguang. And Henan and Shandong, of which Henan and Shandong only account for a small half."

This quota is actually the transportation volume that the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal can accommodate. No more can be transported.Therefore, the remaining part of the treasury revenue to be paid to the capital was paid in silver money.

At this time, after Fan Jingwen briefly talked about the history, he showed some solemn expression and continued: "With the outbreak of war, there are difficulties in the transportation of grain in various places. Especially in Huguang, which is deeply troubled by thieves, the grain supply has been wiped out several times. In other places, The amount of grain that can be transported to the capital every year is less than 200 million. The same is true. The price of grain in the capital is usually one or two and a half cents or even two taels of silver and one stone."

During the Taiping years, the capital's food supply was almost one tael of silver to buy two stones, but by the end of Chongzhen's reign, the situation had been reversed.

Seeing the slight change in Emperor Chongzhen's face, Fan Jingwen smiled bitterly and said: "Last year there was a plague in the capital, killing nearly half of the population, and many whole families in the outer cities died. There were fewer people eating food, so the price of food dropped a bit. When His Majesty left the capital, he ordered the imperial court to control the granary, so the price of grain at one tael of silver and one stone has been stable. There will be no problem in transporting grain to the capital after the autumn harvest."

Emperor Chongzhen was speechless. According to this statement, wouldn't he still be grateful for the plague?This is really a big joke!

After coming back to his senses, he said with a serious expression: "It is impossible for this year's grain to arrive in Beijing as scheduled. I want to know how long can the capital's grain reserves last?"

When Fan Jingwen heard this, his expression suddenly changed.

The capital has a large population. Even with the plague last year, it was still one of the most populous towns in the Ming Dynasty.Once a famine occurs in the capital, the disaster will be unimaginable.

He immediately understood that Jianlu was still in the capital and it was indeed difficult to transport grain.

So, Fan Jingwen thought about it carefully and said: "If we save food, we can last until this winter. This is thanks to His Majesty's previous decree to control the granary, otherwise it would be impossible!"

Having said this, he tentatively asked Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, will Jianlu always be in the capital?"

Although he really wanted to ask the emperor if he could defeat the remaining Jianlu, but considering that the Jianlu troops were far larger than the imperial army, and the Jianlu's reputation could not be completely reversed with a single victory, he decided I didn't dare to ask, I just asked politely.

Emperor Chongzhen would definitely not hide this from the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty, and immediately told him: "The main force of the Jianlu forces went south to capture Tianjinwei, Wuqing, and Jinghai areas, cutting off water transportation and even sea transportation to Beijing. From my perspective, its purpose seems to be to Cut off the supply of food and grass to the capital. In a short while, if the Jianlu troops are not divided, it will not be easy to fight. I need to wait for the opportunity to fight. Can you understand?"

Fan Jingwen was shocked when he heard this. He was a civil servant who led troops to fight. He was a civil and military official. He immediately understood the seriousness of the current situation.

With a frown on his face, he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will go back and think about it later, and try to save food as much as possible so that I can last a while longer!"

When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, he also comforted him and said: "I dare not divide my troops easily if I leave the Jianlu army, otherwise I will be able to lead the army to defeat them one by one. Therefore, I just want to see how long the food and grass for the Jianlu army can last?"

When Fan Jingwen heard this, he was overjoyed and said quickly: "Your Majesty, I believe that the food and fodder for building an army of captives will never last for more than a few months!"

This is the benefit of having a field army!
If Jianlu is invincible in the field, then Jianlu can send partial troops at any time to plunder food and supplies for the army.However, now that the imperial court has an army that can fight with Jianlu in the field, it can limit Jianlu's ability to divide its troops to replenish food and grass supplies.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw this, he said again: "Northern Shanxi should have a bumper harvest this year. Depending on the situation in central Jinxi, maybe Shanxi can also add some food to the capital, but don't expect too much."

When Fan Jingwen heard this, he felt relieved again.

But no matter what, food and grass is a major matter and cannot be taken lightly. When he saw that the emperor had no other instructions, he immediately went to discuss with other civil officials to do a good job in the management of food and grass.

Emperor Chongzhen suddenly thought of a situation when he was talking to Fan Jingwen about Jinzhong.

He had previously annihilated Azige's troops in the Battle of Xuanfu and captured many captives, some of whom were tribesmen from the grasslands.

Outside the Xuanfu of Datong is the famous Hetao Plain, where the Tumut tribe gathers.

This Tumut tribe had its glory days during the Jiajing period and produced an outstanding figure, Amada Khan, but by this time it had completely declined.

At this time, the Tumed tribe surrendered to the Jianlu, and the Jianlu were divided into the Tumed Left Banner and the Tumed Right Banner, with separate capital commanders. According to the confessions of the captives, the men of the Tumed Right Banner today are There are 820 and 11 soldiers in the army; while the Zuomede Banner has [-] and [-] soldiers.

There were only so many men in total, and there were about 2000 men who followed Azig into Zhangjiakou this time.In other words, the number of men left behind in the Tumut tribe today is less than [-].

Maybe they should leave the customs to take revenge. We can't just allow them to follow the Jianlu into the customs and invade, right?
By the way, if there are cattle, it can support farming; if there are sheep, it can supplement some meat; if there are horses, it can expand the imperial cavalry!
With the main force of Jianlu, there is no chance of a big battle for the time being. The cavalry is idle and it is okay to make some extra money.At this time, the capital was in urgent need of extra money!
With this in mind, he issued an order to summon all the generals to discuss the matter.

To Emperor Chongzhen's surprise, Tang Tong was the most active, rushing to make meritorious deeds.

Emperor Chongzhen was well aware of this and knew what kind of stimulation he had received, so he agreed to his request for a battle and asked him to lead three thousand cavalry troops to northern Shanxi, and then gather some more cavalry troops there to reach four to five thousand. In this way, let the captives of the Tumote tribe lead the way and add some extra money to the court.

After finishing all this work, it was already getting late. Emperor Chongzhen was having a meal while listening to the report from Prince Zhu Cixiang.

After his teacher returned to Beijing, Zhu Cixiang's status as a supervisor of the country was naturally gone, and he was assigned by the emperor to do logistical work related to military affairs.

I only heard Zhu Cixiang report to Emperor Chongzhen: "Father, the brocade used in military uniforms is all from the military families below. For military officers and soldiers who have no family members in Beijing, the palace is responsible for making military uniforms for them!" In this era, military uniforms were not the same. It is not uniform, but the materials are distributed to the families of soldiers, who sew military uniforms according to the height of their own family members. The excess fabric is regarded as a reward.

It is already June, which is summer, but the entire army is actually still wearing winter uniforms. In fact, many soldiers wear a military uniform or cotton armor all year round. They have been patched and patched and sewn again and again. Winter operations are fine. In summer, it's really too hot.

At the beginning of the year, the houses of so many powerful people were confiscated, and many of their shops dealt in silks, satins and various types of cloth.Therefore, it actually didn’t cost much to make Emperor Chongzhen’s military uniform.

Emperor Chongzhen listened and nodded, indicating for him to continue.

Therefore, Zhu Cixiang continued to report: "All damaged and seized armors have been recovered. There are 560 armors in total. Repairs and renovations are being stepped up. It is estimated that it will take more than a month."

The amount of armor captured was actually far more than that. After all, the Battle of Xuancheng was a battle of annihilation, and the Battle of Changping Huairou was also a major defeat of Jianlu.It's just that some armors just change the color. The craftsmen in the capital are limited in their ability to undertake them, so the soldiers are left to make some small changes themselves.

With the end of these two wars, the 5 soldiers in the Beijing camp who accompanied the emperor on the expedition were basically equipped with sophisticated armor, and their combat power naturally increased by one point.

"After my father left the capital, the capital produced a total of 150 muskets, and issued [-] muskets. These muskets were personally inspected by my ministers, and they are all of high quality."

"..."

Zhu Cixiang reported all the firearms and armors created by the capital over the past six months.Emperor Chongzhen listened and evaluated in his mind.No matter what, this army has gone through several wars and has been tempered. The upgrading of equipment should also bring the army's combat effectiveness to a higher level.

At the end of Zhu Cixiang's words, he said to Emperor Chongzhen with admiring eyes: "Father, the big shield you want has been built and tested at close range with firearms, including the Tiger Crouching Cannon. It can't be penetrated at all. It can’t be punched through. But... but no one can lift it easily!"

Emperor Chongzhen laughed when he heard this.

After he came back, he thought about it, designed a shield himself, wrote the requirements, and asked Zhu Cihong to go to the Military War Bureau to create an experiment.

The shield of Emperor Chongzhen was required to protect the whole body, and it was made entirely of steel and could not be penetrated by firearms.In this case, if he needs to charge into battle on the battlefield in the future, he will be much safer with such a shield.

After all, today is an era of alternating hot and cold weapons. Not every enemy will use firearms in battle. It is safer to have such a shield.As for the other hand, he considered using a mace, but he wanted to try a shield first.

Regarding Zhu Cixiang's envy, Emperor Chongzhen suspected that he would think, why not pass on his infinite strength to him?

He ignored Zhu Cihong and turned to look at Queen Zhou, because Queen Zhou also had something to say.

Seeing Emperor Chongzhen looking at her, Empress Zhou said to him: "Excluding the military pay reserved for Shanhaiguan, the proceeds from the previous house raids only left about two million. At this current rate of spending, , I’m afraid I can only hold on for less than a year. Now that the imperial court has no other income, should we sell off those antiques, calligraphy, paintings, jewelry and the like?”

This time, many soldiers chose grain fields as rewards for military merit. Otherwise, even less money would be saved.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen didn't have much worry. He smiled and said to Queen Zhou: "Don't be afraid of this. Just use the money when it's needed. We'll talk about it when it's gone!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cixiang confirmed: "Are you looking for more corrupt officials?"

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but glance at him. Did this guy see that he had gotten so much money from ransacking the house and thought it was easy, so he wanted to do it?
With this in mind, he replied: "Corrupt officials must continue to be punished, but the so-called increase of income and reduction of expenditure is indispensable. I have my own ideas, but for now I still have to deal with the Jianlu and the increase of income, and we will talk about it later. !”

When Zhu Cixiang heard this, his eyes couldn't help but be full of expectation: His father had brought him too many surprises. He didn't know what the surprise of open source would be?
Later, Empress Zhou reported again: "I thought that the families of the soldiers and soldiers who moved to the capital would take away all the money, but I found that the bank was used as a place to save money, and they only came to collect money when they needed it. Leave at once. And it seems that this situation is increasing. I also asked people secretly, saying that it is not safe to leave so much money at home, but if it is stored in the bank, it will be foolproof and will not be lost. If this continues, won’t the bank have to keep it? I'm keeping the money for them. Tai Kangbo has already asked me, how should I handle this matter?"

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he couldn't help laughing and said: "Why, do you think this is a burden? Haha, this is a good thing!"

"A good thing?" Queen Zhou was a little puzzled when she heard this. How can it be a good thing to keep other people's money for free?

Zhu Cixiang was also puzzled and looked at his father with wide eyes.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, he smiled and said: "This shows that I have won their trust, which is a good thing. When the Jianlu are defeated, the land of Gyeonggi is at peace, and when the homeland is rebuilt, money can make money. This is a very good person." Make a living by making money. Let’s continue like this for now, trust needs to continue to be accumulated!”

He kept his word and led the troops to victory. Not only the army, but also the people also restored confidence in him as the emperor. This is also natural.

Empress Zhou saw that he was so confident. Although she still didn't understand, she didn't say much. So she continued to talk about the next thing, and Emperor Chongzhen gave his opinions one by one.

In the next few days, Emperor Chongzhen had to deal with government affairs and was so busy that he never touched the ground.Facts have fully proved that the emperor has great power, but it is really difficult to be the emperor. It is too tiring, and there are 997 endless ones.

………………

As for Li Zicheng, he collected food and grass from Qufu and then went south. At the same time, he spread the articles of Yan Shenggong to enhance his reputation.

However, he still found that as he went all the way south into South Zhili, especially after conquering Xuzhou Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture, he was a little unable to attack.

The South is indeed much wealthier than the North, but its resistance is also much more determined than that of the North.

Almost every place Li Zicheng attacked, he encountered an offensive and defensive battle similar to that of Baoding.Conquering a place can indeed replenish a lot of supplies, but it will also cost a lot of troops.Moreover, after conquering a place, the local people did not like him, unlike those in the north who would take the initiative to join his army.

In this regard, Song Xiance's analysis is that the south is richer and most ordinary people still have enough to eat, so they will not starve to death like those in the north if they do not join the army.Moreover, the officials and gentry in the south were all wealthy, and they were more resolute in organizing resistance. The root cause was the fear of the Dashun Army's policy of recovering stolen goods and providing subsidies.

The experience of these wars in the south also made Li Zicheng start to think about it. If he continued to implement this strategy of recovering stolen goods and providing subsidies, would it still be helpful to his hegemony?

However, if the recovery of stolen goods and subsidies are not implemented, where will this money and food come from?
For the first time, Li Zicheng realized the difficulty that Emperor Chongzhen had before having no money!

At this time, he received news that the Liaodong Jurchens had entered the pass.Immediately, someone suggested that they immediately send their troops northward and join forces with the Jurchens to overthrow the imperial court.

However, some people, led by Song Xiance, believed that it would be better to wait and see for the time being, and that it would be best to let the Liaodong Jurchens and the army led by the current emperor defeat both sides!
At this time, Li Zicheng and others still regarded the Liaodong Jurchens as a team that rebelled against Emperor Zhu Ming just like them.

As for national justice, it didn't exist at this time, otherwise Li Zicheng would not have recognized the Taizu of Xixia as his ancestor.

On this day, he held a military meeting to discuss the next movement of the army, whether to continue to attack southward, or to march westward back to the Central Plains, secure the captured Central Plains, and coordinate with Yuan Zongdi's troops in Huguang to destroy them. Is Zuo Liangyu good?
At this moment, soldiers outside the lobby came to report that the Jurchen envoy from Liaodong wanted to see him.

This surprised everyone in the lobby. They didn't know why the Jurchens came to see them again.
(End of this chapter)