Win the Ding 1617

On the surface of the sea in early winter, the waves blown by the strong northwest wind are like mountains, and the air is full of the smell of damp sea.

Taking advantage of the good wind that night, Li Huamei's Aomei led more than ten gunboats of various sizes and could already see Ningyuan City in the distance with the naked eye.

The wharf from Ningyuan City to the sea outside the city was densely packed with people.Ships of all sizes on the sea are constantly shuttling back and forth. The busy crowd on the pier is like ants, and the sound of all kinds of work is like a tide. They move the mountain-like goods unloaded from the various ships from the south to the warehouse. Shouting and shouting can be faintly heard dozens of miles away.

Ningyuan has become very prosperous because of the task of supplying and transshipping the Liaodong army.

Originally, the Liaodong Army Town was the black hole that consumed the most food and pay in the Ming Dynasty. Now there is a supervisor Hong Chengchou leading more than [-] troops, and eight or nine general soldiers are fighting here. Naturally, the transfer of food and supplies is a very heavy task. Qiu Minyang deliberately stayed in Ningyuan, and never went north with his supervisor Hong Chengchou.

The defense of Ming Dynasty, ever since Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing and was known as the emperor guarding the gate of the country, has focused on the nine sides.Among the nine borders, Liaodong Army Town has the most generous supply.With the emergence of the consequences of the previous Ningyuanbo Li Cheng@万@书@吧@.nsb.cm Liang Yangkou’s self-respect, the original nine-side salary of more than 280 million taels shared by the towns on average began to gradually tilt towards Liaodong.From Sun Chengzong, Xiong Wencan, Yuan Chonghuan to today's Hong Chengchou, the food and payment expenses of the Liaodong Army Town have become the largest part of the military expenditure of the Ming Dynasty.Although it is said that teachers and land are constantly being lost, there are fewer and fewer troops and cities, and the share of food and pay is not what it was when Governor Yuan was there.The Ministry of Households can only give money and food according to his request, so that his Yuan family quickly changed from a dick to a local tyrant in Guangdong. Ju, and other towns, generally only a few hundred thousand taels.And Lu Xiangsheng, whom Li Huamei is familiar with, has to farm in the Xuanda area to support himself.

As for the income of Ming Dynasty, it was in the mid-Wanli period.The imperial court provides summer grain and autumn grain every year.There are more than 600 million shi, of which the Taicang Bank of the Ministry of Households receives about 360 million taels of silver every year, and the military expenditures are spent on surplus.There has been a deficit every year.Liaodong war together.The finances are even more difficult to make ends meet.

Three pay increases, from the 46th year of Wanli to the present, in these years.A total of about 2000 million taels of silver was collected. However, in the past few years, the annual military expenditure has reached more than 800 million taels. Including the rest of the expenditure, it is still not enough to make ends meet. Liao's salary is one of the heavy burdens.

Not counting Yang Guozhu and Wang Pu's Xuan army, the Guanning Army in Liaodong Town and Shanhai Town alone has as many as 20 troops on the books.Calculated on the basis of one shi grain per soldier per month, 200 million shi grains are needed a year, and the horses will cost more. Those fat and strong people who think that war horses can be fed by eating grass can go to rest.In addition to the life of the soldiers and horses, there are various expenses such as the maintenance of the armor, staff, weapons, gunpowder, and the city. In fact, the current military pay is far from enough, and the soldiers are in arrears every year, not to mention reducing military expenditure.However, if you propose to shrink the line of defense to reduce expenses, you will immediately face the joint opposition of the Minister of Military Affairs of the DPRK, "The size of the ancestral land cannot be abandoned!"

However, when the ministers said these words, they must have not carefully looked at the changes in the territory of the successive emperors or the actual control area during their reign.Starting from the territory left by Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di and his sons, Hamiwei, Nuer Gandusi, three declarations and six comforts, and the Hetao area shrunk the actual control area from Turpan to Jiayuguan, from the Outer Xing'an Mountains to Shanhaiguan. As an area, the Hetao area, where the Yellow River has all kinds of harm but only wealth, was handed over to the Mongols, making the Xuanda area, which was originally an inland area, a frontier defense line.It even moved Tielingwei from the Han River basin to the north of the Yalu River and turned it into a big city.

This is the so-called emperor guards the country and does not cede land.He had never ceded the land, so he directly stepped back and gave up the land.In other words, the only two emperors who really didn't lose their land during their reign were the two very stupid emperors who were recorded in literati's writings. Brother, Emperor Jiajing, was even more perverted to the point where he was almost strangled to death by making alchemy and eating celestial sunflower.And it was precisely during the reign of these two senseless and fatuous emperors that Daming did not lose its actual control area.

Of course, the biggest advantage of civil servants is that they are always selectively blind, and their speech has always been high-sounding and righteous, occupying the moral high ground. (Oh, this characteristic seems to have been passed down very well all the time, and some people sacrificed this family heirloom when pointing fingers.)

When talking about the importance of the Guanning line of defense, all of them quoted scriptures, lest the emperor would listen to the slander of treacherous officials and give up the land outside the pass.

But in fact, Liaojiao is the next very big interest group. How many people benefit from it?Even Zhang Juzheng, the chief assistant of the cabinet at that time, also received countless benefits from Qi Jiguang, the chief soldier of Ji Town!At present, Han Zhan Kedao, a member of the cabinet and officials of the six ministries, is even worse than Zhang Juzheng when it comes to greed and extravagance.But is there a person who has the talent of Jiangling Xiangguo back then?

Cutting off people's money is like killing one's parents, taking people's money to eliminate disasters.Officials at all levels understand this very well, so when they have money sent by the Liaodong Army Town in their pockets, they no longer propose to reduce the Liaodong Army's salary.

So there is Wu Xiang's remark to Chongzhen, "The ministers and soldiers are [-] according to the book. In fact, there are more than [-] people. It is not enough to support a soldier. This is not only a matter of closing the door. .”

And among these 3 people, those who can really fight and have combat effectiveness are only [-] family members!

In other words, when asking for military pay, he said that he had eight divisions under his command, and when he needed to send troops, it became three divisions, and these three divisions were once again greatly discounted and turned into a reinforced regiment.It is equivalent to Chongzhen spending the money and food to raise [-] troops and raising [-] platoon leaders.These cattle people eat fine sheep and wine, wear silk and satin, and each family has hundreds of acres of land, claiming to be able to deal with Li Zicheng's million-strong army.

Wu Xiang.It is equivalent to having three thousand devil terminators under his command.

However, this talented soldier leader is now being raised by the capital because he has a good son.

Li Huamei's fleet entered the waters of the pier outside Ningyuan City, and immediately the people on the pier burst into cheers. During this period of time, Liaodong was in a state of turmoil.Now that this fleet has covered most of the sea surface of the port, at least Ningyuan City can be assured of worry-free.

Qiu Minyang, governor of Liaodong stationed in Ningyuan City, and Wu Sangui, the actual master of Ningyuan City, could not help being overjoyed when they heard that reinforcements were coming from outside the city.He was even more overjoyed to hear that the banner of the visitor showed the Southern Guangdong Army under Uncle Ning Yuan's command!

"Quick! Get my robe! I'm going to the pier to meet Uncle Ning Yuan's army!" Qiu Minyang ordered his subordinates overjoyed.

"My lord. It is reported that the person who came here was not President Ning Yuanbo himself. It was Uncle Ning Yuan's eldest lady, Miss Li Huamei who was conferred the title of princess of Hejing by the emperor."

"Oh? But it's not Uncle Ning Yuan who came here?"

"Yes! According to the capital and the troops who came to aid, Uncle Ning Yuan obeyed the imperial decree and led the army and horses to Shandong to suppress the bandits first. Miss Li led people to Liaodong to make a first stop. To stabilize the morale of the army."

"Hey! If Ning Yuanbo, the great president who aided the suppression, came here, I will go to the pier to greet him as a courtesy. Now it's only the princess who comes here, not to mention the difference between men and women. What should be done in terms of etiquette in the court system alone? salute?"…

"Your Excellency is very right. When the canonization was made that day, the Ministry of Rituals was quite annoying, saying that Uncle Ning Yuan was just an earl, how could his daughter be named the princess? At most one county princess. It's a pity that he couldn't hold back His Majesty, so he still conferred the title Princess. At this point, there are rumors in the capital that the eunuchs in the palace are discussing that once Master Li has put down the Dongnu and the rogues, he will be crowned a duke, and even follow the example of the Mu family of the Duke of Qian, and canonize him as a king. it is also fine."

"Hmph! The country is experiencing troubled times, and the matter of conferring titles has also become excessive!" Qiu Minyang expressed his disapproval of the empty promises written by Emperor Chongzhen for the rejuvenation of the country.

"My lord, shall we go to meet him?"

"Anyway, this Li Huamei is Uncle Ning Yuan's eldest daughter. Although it is inappropriate for a woman to show her face in public, she is still diligent in the affairs of the king. Forget it! After she lands, I will wait for her to attend the yamen. Go to the second gate to meet him!"

The Governor's attitude towards Li Huamei's arrival quickly spread among the yamen in Ningyuan City.The news spread to Ningyuan General Army Mansion, and Wu Sangui couldn't help praising his thumbs when he heard it: "What a Governor Qiu! What a scholar!"

After praising him, Wu Sangui turned his head towards the cronies who were waiting beside him.

"Clean up and get ready to go to the pier to meet Princess Ning Yuanbo!"

"Marshal, what kind of standard will you welcome?"

"It is to come with the honor guard etiquette of welcoming angels! Pass down the order, all barracks, merchants, and government offices must be decorated with lanterns and festoons, and gongs, drums, dragon lanterns, lions, etc. must be arranged to worship and dance along the street! Firecrackers must be set off everywhere to show A warm welcome."

Amidst the sound of gongs, drums and firecrackers resounding through the sky, Wu Sangui, the general of Ningyuan, personally led hundreds of servants to the pier to guard, and led his generals and officials to the place where the Aomei was berthed. The gesture of paying homage to the Shangguan.

The ruler of Ningyuan City had the same attitude, and the rest of the officials followed suit.On the way Li Huamei led the army into the city, officials knelt before the horses and handed out notebooks, loudly reporting their official titles and resumes.

"Hey! These monkey cubs are quite enlightened today! They are not as virtuous as they were when they treated our family!?"

The eunuchs sent to Ningyuan to oversee the military rations reined in their horses with a proud expression on their faces.

Whether it is the eunuchs themselves, or civil servants and scholars from all over the country, the Southern Guangdong Army has long been classified as the so-called eunuch party.

"Princess princess, please rest assured. There are 10,000+ stone grains piled up in Ningyuan and other places, and there are even weapons, gunpowder, etc. that are enough for tens of thousands of troops to fight for several months. As for the rewards of oil, salt, meat, food, and silver, there are all kinds of rewards." Abnormal abundance. These things are in our family's hands, as long as the empress orders, the princess will have as much as she needs!"

Since it is a family, the eunuchs will not say anything else.Anyway, these things originally belonged to your Li family, and the emperor is so fond of you, so why don't our family take this opportunity to curry favor with you, the eldest lady of the Li family?

Besides, the Second Master Li in Ningyuan City.But it has already given us countless benefits, so what is this matter of food and salary?

However, this kind of ingratiating attitude inadvertently made Wu Sangui, who rode his horse and followed Li Huamei's footsteps, a bit palatable.

Hong Chengchou led 10,000+ troops and was surrounded by Huang Taiji in Guangning. The Liaodong Ming army was divided into four parts: Guangning (Hong Chengchou's department), Jinzhou (Zu Dashou's department), Songshan (Wu Biao's department), and Ningyuan (Wu Sangui's department) However, this extremely unfavorable situation for the Ming army gave Wu Sangui a great opportunity to rise.In fact, since Wu Sangui learned the news of Hong Chengchou's siege on the way from Jinzhou to Guangning to escort grain and grass, Wu Sangui began his journey of making money and collecting foreign goods.

A large number of the Ming army wandering in the wilderness fell behind and straggled, and the defeated small group of Ming army was sent by him to take over.They also used food and salaries as bait.Attract those Ming troops who stayed along the way to accept his command.After taking in nearly [-] people, Wu Sangui turned around and headed south resolutely, and handed over [-] stones of grain and more than [-] barrels of gunpowder that should have been handed over to Governor Hong to his uncle Zu Dashou.Then, without even entering Jinzhou City, they quickly went south to Ningyuan.By the way, they kidnapped hundreds of family members under Zu Dashou.

now.He has nearly 3 horses in the Ningyuan area.Except for the stragglers who were brought in by him to trick the big fish into eating the small fish.There are also soldiers and horses from various towns that were originally staying in Ningyuan City.If it weren't for Qiu Minyang's face, even his Fubiao battalion would be taken away by General Wu in the name of unified command and dispatch, and then there would be no dregs left.

No food, no soldiers.Mountains of food, grass, armor, gunpowder, and military pay are piled up in large and small warehouses inside and outside Ningyuan City.He has long been regarded as a food in his pocket.But he didn't want Li Huamei's arrival to make the cooked duck fly away.

However, Wu Sangui was able to deal with eunuchs, supervisors, nobles, and courtiers with ease in the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty. How can Wu Sangui's mind be compared to that of a miser?

That night, the city of Ningyuan was filled with jubilation.

Dozens of banquet tables were lined up in the general's mansion to invite the officers and generals of the Southern Guangdong Army.Even the soldiers of the land and water armies stationed inside and outside the city also sent their own wine and meat.

"The last general has already ordered people to go quickly to Songshan along the way, to inform them that the princess has led the forwards of the Southern Guangdong Army here. Hearing that the princess is here, the uncle will arrive in a few days. The morale of all the troops in Liaodong is high. There was joy."

"That's natural! Our Southern Cantonese army is here, and the Jianzhou rebels are just a bunch of clowns who want to sell Seoul!"

Although Li Huamei didn't speak, from Shi Lang and Mo Yu to Li Peiting who appeared at the banquet in the name of Nanyue Army Food and Taiwan Officer, there was such an expression on the face.

"Wu Zongzhen, I don't know what the enemy's situation is right now? Our army is here for the first time today, and we still need more guidance from the general."

Although she is full of confidence in the combat effectiveness of her troops, Li Huamei still adheres to her father's teachings. When she first arrives in a different place, she must be clear about the so-called five elements such as the enemy's situation, our situation, terrain, and so on.

"The five elements are indeterminate, and you lose cleanly!"

Wu Sangui ordered people to hold dozens of lamps to illuminate the hall as bright as day.

A staff member in his army had already taken the map of Liaodong and displayed it in front of everyone.

On the map, flags of various colors are dotted densely, as the marks of the enemy and the enemy.Obviously, from Ningyuan to Songshan, there are only a few Jiannu flags scattered around the mountains, and the seaside is even more unique.But starting from the north of Songshan, a large number of Jiannu banners separated Songshan from Jinzhou.

"The person responsible for encircling Jinzhou City and isolating Jinzhou, Songshan and other places from the outside world is Jierhalang, the owner of the Jiannu pseudo-inlaid blue banner. This is the Eight Banners of Manchuria, the Zhengbai Banner, the Bordered White Banner, the Zhenghuang Banner, the Bordered Yellow Banner, and the Zhenglan Banner. Banners, one bordered blue flag, and eight banners of Mongolia Zhenghuang Banner, Zhenghong Banner, one Bordered Red Banner, the left and right wings of Tumote, the outer domain, and one inner and outer Karaqin, with a total of 1000 armored soldiers and 3000 miscellaneous servants [-] people isolated Jinzhou City. Use the long trench built and dug by the former slaves to continue to besiege and attack our Jinzhou defenders."

"Before the princess led the Southern Cantonese army to come, I joined forces with the Songshan garrison general Jingying model brigade Wu Zongbing's unit to fight many times. Our army lost two guerrilla guards successively. The general and the five generals were killed There were 850 soldiers and officers, and those who were lightly or seriously injured, and those who were scattered were not counted. They successively killed 67 Jiannu officers and soldiers. Among them, 79 and [-] were true slaves. The rest were all traitors. Among them, the leader of Jiannu was captured The soldiers who built slaves were identified, and there are more flags as evidence, including Zhenglan Banner Niuluzhangjing Hafenga, Niuluzhangjing Axingga, Baya Lajia Lazhang Jingmaise, and Baya Lazhuang Da Aojia. Inlaid blue flag armor Lazhangjingjue Luoguoke, Niuluzhangjing Chiwuti, Niuluzhangjing Yiergen, Niuluzhangjing Tuketan, all assigned to Shiku..."

"Wu Zongzhen, you played well!" Listening to Wu Sangui's report on his achievements over the past month, Mo Yu asked a little teasingly.

From his point of view, even with a superior force against the Jiannu [-]st Army, which is a miscellaneous troop with a complicated battalion, it also suffered huge losses, and it has not yet wiped out the enemy army or opened a breakthrough. How dare you repay the credit here?

He has been in the Southern Guangdong Army for a long time, and he doesn't know what the officers and soldiers in the interior are doing.With such a record, Wu Sangui is enough to proudly declare that he has won a great victory in front of the court.

However, Wu Sangui made a surprising move!