Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 508: The horse is riding fast but the saddle is not yet dismounted

In the deathly silent Wuying Hall, everyone could only hear their own breathing, which undoubtedly increased the tension in the atmosphere.

Suddenly, footsteps came from the side hall, and everyone was worried.

When a figure walked out of the side hall, everyone knelt down and kowtowed: "I see your Majesty, may your Majesty live forever!"

Zhu Gaoxu walked out in a blue uniform, his eyes not stopping for a second on Wang Hui, who was kneeling at the door of the side hall.

He walked towards the golden platform of Wuying Hall and said at the same time: "Everyone, get up."

"Thank you!" The ministers stood up, and Wang Hui followed closely and walked under the golden platform.

Zhu Gaoxu sat on the golden platform and looked down at everyone with a slight indifference in his eyes.

"The reform of salt and tea and the franchise of the wine industry have been policies set by the imperial court for two years. However, the total tax on salt, wine and tea last year was only more than 7 million guan. What do you think?"

Following Wang Hui's words, Zhu Gaoxu began to beat everyone, and Wang Hui immediately stepped forward to bow and salute:

"Why, is Jiangnan's export market still a multiple of Jiangnan's domestic market?"

"Including the growth of the imperial government's finances, the negative expenditure next year will only be about 2 million yuan."

"Your Majesty, the tax on salt, wine and tea last year brought in more than 7,826,000 yuan, of which nearly 70% was collected by various places. The population of Jiangnan accounts for 40% of the imperial court, but only 30% of the tax was paid."

"This year's expenditures have been excessive, mainly due to the imperial court's wars in Southwest and Mobei, as well as the launch of new navy ships, which cost more than six million guan of money and food."

"When the Central Plains Railway is completed and opened to traffic by the end of the year, the cost will drop to 5.4 million guan. When the Kaihan Railway is completed in March next year, the cost will also drop to 4.2 million guan."

"Last year, Jiangnan's two-tax tax on wine and tea was mainly for export, but even so, it still collected more than 1.5 million guan. On the other hand, Jiangnan's internal tax on tea and wine could not even collect 1 million guan."

As Zhu Gaoxu walked down the golden platform and back to the side hall, everyone straightened up, while Yang Rong and Yang Pu also stared at Wang Hui with gloomy faces.

"Although the imperial court will have a net income of more than 2 million guan in four years, and the completion of the Zhang-Feng Railway will reduce consumption by more than 1 million guan, it can net a net income of more than 3 million guan to the national treasury every year, but the imperial court still needs to build railways in many places, and the imperial court Government education expenditures are also increasing.”

Wang Hui was eloquent and eloquent. When he was targeting Xu Shuo, he quoted scriptures. When he was targeting Yang Rong and Yang Pu, he used New Deal knowledge and terminology skills. He beat Yang Rong and Yang Pu speechless with a combination of punches.

"Although a lot of money was gained from the confiscation of the houses in the Guimao case, after repaying the national debt and interest, the money and food from the national treasury can maintain the operation of the court for four years at most."

"Your Majesty, I suggest that Jiangnan be inspected and the Jiangnan salt, wine and tea tax be implemented as soon as possible, so as to replenish the national treasury!"

"Chen is here!"

"If we hold on for another two years, we can turn the crisis around..."

Both the north and southwest took it out honestly, but Jiangnan kept it secretly. If he didn't take action on Jiangnan, who should he take action on?
"There are indeed problems with the implementation of the New Deal in southern Zhili, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other provinces. Wang Hui..."

"Since His Majesty has a decree, I would like to ask you all to temporarily handle government affairs for me. I am now going to be busy with the Jiangnan Jingchao..."

Zhu Gaoxu stood up, and everyone bowed and saluted.

"Okay, there is no need to discuss this matter any further. The inspection of Jiangnan will begin today."

Every two years, there are at least 300 high school imperial examination candidates and there are only more than 4,000 vacancies for official positions above the seventh rank in the Ming Dynasty.

The New Deal faction was powerful, and as long as there was the emperor's will, there would be no major obstacles to conducting inspections of certain places and yamen.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Hui walked away, his steps much brisker.

It can be said that there are people waiting for positions every year, and there are many people with strength, background and ability.

"If the officials in the Jiangnan area are diligent, how difficult will it be for the tax on salt, tea and wine to exceed 9 million yuan next year?"

"All right……"

"That's right, Your Majesty. Moreover, the Northern Railway's annual revenue is more than 2 million guan, while Jiangnan only has the Beijing-Beijing railway part, but it still turns over more than 300,000 guan in railway revenue every year. Officials from all over the south of the Yangtze River are diligent and diligent, but the people's income is not enough. Too much, nothing left to spend.”

Not only did it safeguard the imperial court's finances, but it also safeguarded the authority of the New Deal faction in the temple.

Because of this, the two people hurriedly came forward to bow when Wang Hui's words fell. Yang Rong was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, the people in the south of the Yangtze River are poor. They don't have as many businesses as the people in the north. Naturally, their expenses are not as good as those in the north."

Wang Hui glanced at them, as if he felt that these people were outdated and could not keep up with the times.

"As a bachelor, you are appointed to control the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Criminal Department, the Criminal Section, the Official Affairs Department, the Official Affairs Section, the Household Department, and the Household Section, to conduct inspections of Jiangnan, and to implement the new policy as soon as possible..."

Xue Xuan remained silent, and Xu Shuo didn't want to get involved.

"I accept the order and thank you!" Wang Hui knelt down and kowtowed, while Yang Rong and Yang Pu looked very ugly.

Since the current topic has led to the tax on salt, wine and tea, he will naturally not stand up and bring the topic back to the textile industry.

Zhu Gaoxu spoke indifferently, and Wang Hui also heard the emperor's dissatisfaction and quickly stepped forward to bow.

After getting along with Zhu Gaoxu, Wang Hui didn't dare to be so presumptuous, but he still wanted Jiangnan to take out the money and food from his pocket honestly.

Yang Pu echoed Yang Rong, and Wang Hui snorted coldly when he heard the words: "The tax on wine and tea is originally aimed at rich households, and rich households are everywhere in the south of the Yangtze River. This is known to both the government and the public."

Xu Shuo did not want to excuse the conservatives, he just disapproved of the implementation of steam textiles.

"Excluding these, it only costs more than 7 million yuan to build the northwest, Kaihan, Zhangfeng and Zhongyuan railways."

Wang Hui put Jiang Nan on fire. If Yang Rong and others did not act, they would have to watch Zhu Gaoxu attack Jiang Nan.

Seeing that Yang Rong and Yang Pu were speechless after being retorted by Wang, Zhu Gaoxu took the initiative to stand up and said:

Zhu Gaoxu said this, and Wang Hui also bowed after hearing the words: "Your Majesty is wise, but the imperial court still has national debts and interest that have not been repaid."

Anyone with strong abilities will basically be attracted by others. Therefore, whether they are New Dealers or conservatives, they need enough positions to arrange people.

Jiangnan Jingchao can not only find out many locations, but also implement the new tax on salt, tea and wine, solving urgent needs.

If this matter is done well, Wang Hui's position will become very stable, whether in Wuying Palace or in the New Deal Faction.

Under his arrangement, the Beijing police team of more than 3,000 people began to move south in batches. At this moment, the north was also filled with smoke.

On the fourth day of July, Zhu Zhanji led Tangqi to search for Hulanhu hypothermia, and saw a large amount of cow and horse dung here. These dung represented that the Mongols were nearby, and Zhu Zhanji also told the news without stopping. Zhu Di.

"Lead the fine cavalry to surround them, and then keep squeezing them inward, capturing them and taking them to the pass. As a result, Mobei will not be able to recover for at least twenty years."

In the military tent, the light of the torches was floating, while Meng Zhang and Zhu Neng were perfecting the plan to use troops against the Tatar and Oara troops who suddenly lost their temper.

Zhu Di was sitting in the main seat. He was wearing a mandarin duck war coat, which was slightly thick.

Although his body is still strong, he is old after all, so the July night in Mobei is still a bit cold for him.

Watching the discussion among the generals, Zhu Di set his sights on Zhu Zhanhe like a student: "Boy, tell me."

As soon as Zhu Di opened his mouth, everyone turned their attention to Zhu Zhanhe.

Zhu Zhanhe's ability is obvious to all. He obviously does not have the ability to command such a hundred thousand cavalry. However, since the Supreme Emperor is asking, it is hard for the generals to say anything. After all, it is just asking, not executing.

"Grandpa, I think what we should be prepared for now is the fleeing Hu people. It is better to enlarge the encirclement and station troops and horses in various mountain cols in the north. After blocking their way, the generals will lead the troops to annihilate all the Hu people here."

It is true that Zhu Zhanhe could not actually command a hundred thousand cavalry, but he only talked about theoretical knowledge, so his theoretical knowledge was still sufficient.

In his opinion, the quantity and quality of the Ming army's cavalry were better than those of the Mongols, and according to the original plan of Alitai and others, they were not sure or prepared to fight the Ming army head-on, so once When they found that the main force of the Ming army was approaching them, they would naturally start to flee like crazy.

In this case, divide the army into ten and create a large encirclement to surround and annihilate them.

"Your Highness, this is a good idea, but the Mobei grassland is vast. If we divide our forces and attack together, the food, grass and food roads..."

Zhu Neng frowned and made an analysis, and the other generals also nodded.

Zhu Zhanhe could think of a way, and they could naturally think of it too. The reason why he didn't mention it was that this kind of large-scale encirclement combat method consumes food and grass, and it is easy to be attacked on the food road.

"Exposing the food route is not a good idea..."

Zhu Zhanji frowned and spoke, hitting Zhu Zhanhe mercilessly.

However, Zhu Zhanhe said: "Since the Hu people have never thought of fighting us head-on, it means that their intention is only to pull us deep into the grassland and consume our food to force us to retreat."

"In this case, it is better to take the initiative to expose the grain road and block all their retreats when they make a surprise attack on the grain road."

"At this time, as long as you lead a partial division to defeat them, they will flee, and the rest of the troops can encircle and suppress them. This is just like hunting."

Although Zhu Zhanhe was not good at commanding, he knew the strength of the Ming army at the grassroots level.

As long as the number of the Ming army exceeds a thousand, the Mongols will not be able to quickly eat them.

Because of this, Wang Rong was able to rely on more than 10,000 cavalry from Yanran Dusi to march across Mobei.

Zhu Zhanhe had served in the Yanran Dusi. He naturally knew the strength gap between the Ming army and the Mongolian army, so he dared to make this suggestion.

"If the food route is damaged, I'm afraid we will have to ask the Ministry of Household Affairs for food. This..."

Wang Rong, Meng Mao and others looked at each other in confusion. After hearing this, Zhu Di stood up and said: "It's worth spending millions to buy twenty years of peace!"

He used practical actions to support his eldest grandson. Although the generals were not optimistic about him, Zhu Di still did so.

Soon, under Zhu Di's arrangement, one hundred thousand cavalrymen each with 20,000 auxiliary troops and carriages began to surround Hulan Huwenwen.

The difference is that this time the encirclement is very large, with at least a hundred miles between each army.

Under the dark night, the large group of cavalry and auxiliary soldiers began to move. Zhu Zhanji came to the big tent before leading his army to leave.

Looking at Zhu Di's gray hair, Zhu Zhanji bowed and said, "Grandpa, my grandson is gone."

"Go ahead and be careful." Zhu Di didn't say much, just nodded to tell him to be careful.

Seeing this, Zhu Zhanji led more than 3,000 cavalry to follow Wang Rong and surrounded the Mongols.

The night passed quickly, and at this time, the foot of Hulanhushuwen Mountain was also greeted by sentries from all directions.

They rushed into the group of tents at the foot of Hulanhushuwen Mountain and reported the latest news to the nobles sitting in the big tent. "Master, the Ming army appeared a hundred miles away in the east. Our sentries were discovered and driven away by them. I don't know how many Ming troops there are now!"

In the big tent, when a hundred households finished reporting to Alitai, Alitai suddenly felt a little hot and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

In this regard, Mahamu, who was sitting in the first place on the left, had a panoramic view of the expressions of everyone in the tent. After discovering that only Taiping, Ba Tuboluo, Yexian Tugan and others had calm expressions, he immediately said:

"It seems that the Ming army now knows that we are hypothermic in Hulanhu, and their intention is obviously to surround us."

"But it doesn't matter. Hulanhuwenwen is 1,400 miles away from Haila'er City. They come from a long way, and they are tired of traveling by boat. Even if they have cavalry, they are only as many as us."

"It's obviously disadvantageous to fight them head-on, but they are well-armed and can't move as fast as us."

"Since they are preparing to divide their forces and attack together, we will also use our tactics to attract them to Hulanhuwenwen with regular soldiers, and send a surprise force to harass their food routes."

"Which one of you is willing to lead this surprise army?" Mahamu looked at everyone, and everyone looked at each other. Obviously they all knew the risks of going to the rear of the Ming army to serve as a surprise soldier.

To put it bluntly, once the Ming army knew that the food road was under attack, they would immediately abandon the enemy in front of them and return to open their own food road. Therefore, the person leading this strange army would most likely face being chased and intercepted by tens of thousands of Ming army cavalry. fate.

Naturally, no one would rush to take on this kind of hard work.

"If you don't go, then I will!"

Mahamu pretended to be angry. Seeing what he said, everyone raised their glasses to congratulate him, and Mahamu also walked out of the tent angrily.

Tuohuanhe followed Mahamu out of the tent first, and asked in confusion on the way: "Why should we win this hard job?"

"Bitter?" Mahamu's originally angry face changed instantly. He stopped and looked at the large tent of Hulitai with a sinister expression.

"A grain team of the Ming army is enough for us to restore a lot of Yuan Qi."

"The Ming army came well prepared this time, and Alitai is another foolhardy guy. Now we use this opportunity to leave Hulanhuwenwen, grab enough supplies, and then retreat south to Moxi. I don't believe it. After Zhu Di defeated Ali Tai, he still had enough energy to pursue us. "

Mahamu still abandoned the Mongolian tribes, and he did so without any guilt in his heart.

When this group of people helped the Ming army to encircle and suppress themselves, their expressions were very hateful. I was just treating others in their own way.

Thinking of this, he hurried back to his station and began to move in a circuitous direction toward the northeast with more than 15,000 cavalry.

Their actions were quickly noticed by Tangqi of the Ming Army on patrol. On the vast grassland, the Ming Army could use telescopes to see the Mongols and horses several miles away, but Mahamu and the others could not.

Their traces were quickly exposed, and Tang Qi quickly detached half of his troops to spread the news back to the camp that Mahamu had fled to the northeast.

Zhu Di camped in the middle reaches of the Yinma River, eighty miles away from Hulanhu hypothermia, so when he learned that Mahamu had left, Zhu Di immediately became energetic.

"Okay, everyone is here..."

Zhu Di put his hands on his belt and walked back and forth in the tent.

There are 10,000 cavalry and 20,000 auxiliary troops guarding him here. The person in charge of the troops and horses is the British Duke Zhang Fu.

Seeing how happy Zhu Di was, Zhang Fu immediately bowed to dissuade him and said: "Your Majesty, this Mahamu army does not exceed 20,000 troops. It seems that he wants to disturb our army's food route. It is better to let him over and then send Meng Ying who is closer to us. , Meng Mao’s two cavalry troops surrounded him?”

"No! I want to lead the troops personally!" Zhu Di said firmly:

"Last time I let this guy run away with his children and grandchildren, I can't let him run away again this time."

"Let people release the encirclement in the northeast, let him attack our grain road first, and then flank him while he attacks the grain team."

"This time, let's see where he can run!"

"Grandpa!" After hearing Zhu Di's words, Zhu Zhanhe quickly bowed and said, "You are a man of ten thousand gold, how could you risk your life for such an enemy chieftain?"

"Okay, I've made up my mind, do as I say!" Zhu Di's tone left no room for doubt. Even when Zhu Zhanhe knelt down and kowtowed, he remained unmoved.

The three parts of the Northern Yuan Dynasty were Tatar, Wala, and Uliangha.

Now that Wu Liangha had long been eliminated by himself, Benya Shili and Alutai of the Tatars were captured by him, and Tupolo of Wala deliberately surrendered, leaving only Taiping, Alitai, and Mahamu to deal with.

Among these three people, Taiping was vacillating, Alitai was a fierce person, and Mahamu was the only one who could be considered a great talent.

Taking advantage of this opportunity to deal with him, his achievements against Mobei can be completed.

It's enough to leave the rest to my second son.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di looked at Zhang Fu. Zhang Fu had no choice but to bow and bow, then turned and walked out of the tent.

Seeing that Zhu Zhanhe could not persuade him, he could only go down to rectify the military affairs and prepare for war at any time.

Time passed little by little, and as Mahamu continued to move northeast, there were fewer and fewer horse hoof marks on the route.

"Abu, there are hoof prints of the Ming Army Tangqi nearby. It seems they have discovered us."

Tuo Huan came on horseback and reported an important piece of information.

It is easy to distinguish the hoofprints of the Ming army and the cavalry of the headquarters in Mobei. The Mongols in Mobei rarely have the habit of equipping horses with horseshoes in batches. Because supplies are frequently distributed, those who can be equipped with horseshoes are generally heavy-duty ones. cavalry.

Obviously, it is impossible to pass the Tatar heavy cavalry in this kind of place, so the answer is obvious.

"The Ming army probably knew that we would attack the grain road, so it's not surprising."

Mahamu didn't think it was strange. After all, disturbing the grain roads was a tried-and-tested weapon of the nomads against the farming peoples.

What he was worried about now was whether Zhu Di would send troops to encircle and suppress them, and how many troops he would send to encircle and suppress them.

Thinking of this, Mahamu raised his hand and said: "Set up camp on the spot, and Tang Qi will be released for fifty miles."

"Yes!" Tuo Huan bowed in agreement. He knew clearly that his father was preparing to see how many troops the Ming army would send to attack them.

Soon, Tuohuan began to arrange for the Tangqi to be released, and soon the news came back.

"Great Khan, the Tangqi of the Ming Army were discovered thirty miles away in the southeast. They have been driven away by us now, but our whereabouts..."

A Qianhu held his chest and saluted, Mahamu waved his hand and said: "Don't worry about it, continue to send Tangqi outside and wait for news from the Ming army."

"Yes!" Qianhu nodded and exited the tent, while Tuohuan took his son and walked into the tent first.

The three of them, their grandfather and grandson, roasted and ate the yellow sheep hunted by the tribe, and the news of Mahamu's encampment was brought back to the southeast by Tangqi of the Ming Army, more than a hundred miles away.

"Grandpa, it seems they don't dare to act rashly."

When Zhu Zhanhe learned the news, he immediately analyzed it with Zhu Di in the tent. Zhang Fu, who came after getting the news, also bowed and walked into the tent.

Zhu Di looked at the map, subconsciously touched his beard, and then said:

"Mahamu is a very cautious old dog, but based on the information provided by Tupolo and Yesian Tugan, they always thought that our army only had 50,000 or 60,000 cavalry."

"Since he thinks so, then we will follow his plan."

Zhu Di turned his attention to Zhang Fu and ordered him: "Except for Meng Ying and Meng Mao, order half of the troops and horses from each department to attack Hulan Huwenwen, and send another three thousand cavalry north to fight Mahamu. ”

"In addition, let Meng Mao from the south approach us, and Meng Ying from the north be waiting to meet us at any time."

"Remember, fight against Hulan Huwenwen first, and then send the cavalry north to fight Mahamu after half a day."

"Yes!" Zhang Fu didn't ask any more questions because he already understood Zhu Di's thoughts.

Send a large number of cavalry to besiege Hulanhu, and then Alitai, who is suffering from Hulanhu's hypothermia, will inevitably ask for help from Mahamu.

Mahamu will definitely relax a lot after learning that the main force of the Ming army has lost its temperature after besieging Hulanhu.

At this time, the Ming army's three thousand cavalry went north to attack. This would make Mahamu think that the Ming army's rear troops were insufficient. Therefore, as long as these three thousand cavalry were repulsed, Mahamu would go crazy and look for the Ming army's baggage to retreat and attack. , forcing the Ming army to retreat because the grain road was attacked.

Of course, it is also possible that Mahamu immediately retreated after learning that Alitai was besieged, or showed cowardice when facing the Ming army's 3,000 cavalry, so Zhu Di needed to assemble 20,000 cavalry from Meng Mao and Meng Ying.

After counting the 3,000 cavalry sent by the headquarters, there are still 7,000 cavalry left. The 27,000 cavalry are enough to deal with any reaction from Mahamu.

No matter how you look at it, Mahamu's arrangements have been exposed under Zhu Di's eyes, and victory is only a matter of time.

Before Zhang Fu had time to exit the tent, Zhu Zhanhe took the initiative to bow and said: "Grandpa, my grandson wants to lead three thousand cavalry to fight Mahamu."

"Huh?" Zhu Di and Zhang Fu were stunned for a moment, and Zhang Fu quickly dissuaded him: "The prince is a rich man and cannot come to the front line in person."

"Grandpa, you know why I want to go, please believe me!"

Zhu Zhanhe did not respond to Zhang Fu, but looked directly at Zhu Di. Facing his gaze, Zhu Di understood why Zhu Zhanhe did this after a moment's thought.

Since ancient times, emperors have wanted to have sufficient authority, and being on the battlefield is undoubtedly a resume that can greatly increase their authority.

Zhu Zhanhe wanted to accumulate a certain amount of military merit through this battle, which would make it easier for him to win over the generals.

Of course, his approach was also risky. After all, according to the information brought back by Tang Qi, Mahamu's cavalry number was between 15,000 and 20,000, while Zhu Zhanhe only had 3,000.

Although the army's combat power is impressive, it is not enough to defeat 30000 to 20000, so Zhu Zhanhe needs to face danger.

However, only with such military merits obtained in dangerous battles can it be easy for the army generals to convince him.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di no longer stopped him, just turned around and looked at him and said: "Quickly played!"

"Your Majesty!" Zhang Fu wanted to say something else, but Zhu Di raised his hand to interrupt him and stared at Zhu Zhanhe:
"Boy, there are no men in our Zhu family who live a low life, but you will be the emperor in the future. If the situation goes bad..."

Zhu Di's eyes suddenly became charitable: "Preserve yourself first, and then regain your place when you come back."

"You can lose thousands of times, but as long as you win the last time, no one will care how you lost before."

He was worried about this upright grandson. Although he had seen that this grandson was changing, he was still worried.

Faced with his concern, Zhu Zhanhe pressed his bowing hand down hard, with a firm look in his eyes: "I accept the order and thank you!"

(End of this chapter)